Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

abjure

 
(ăb-jʊr') pronunciation
tr.v., -jured, -jur·ing, -jures.
  1. To recant solemnly; renounce or repudiate: "For nearly 21 years after his resignation as Prime Minister in 1963, he abjured all titles, preferring to remain just plain 'Mr.'" (Time).
  2. To renounce under oath; forswear.

[Middle English abjuren, from Old French abjurer, from Latin abiūrāre : ab-, away; see ab-1 + iūrāre, to swear.]

abjuration ab'ju·ra'tion n.
abjurer ab·jur'er n.

Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Fowler's Modern English Usage:

abjure, adjure

Top

Abjure means 'to renounce on oath'
(He had abjured, he thought, all superstitions—Iris Murdoch, 1985)
and to abjure one's country (or realm) is to swear to abandon it for ever. It is also used in the weakened sense 'to renounce'
(Are faculty members willing to abjure e-mail in communicating with their students and colleagues?—The Nation, 2002 [Old English (up to 1150)C]).
By contrast, adjure means 'to request earnestly' with or (now) more frequently without an oath (They were all talking at once, adjuring each other to have fresh cups of tea). Neither word is in everyday use, but they are found in literature and can cause confusion when wrongly used.

Previous:abide, abetter, abductor
Next:able to, abled, ableism
Roget's Thesaurus:

abjure

Top

verb

    To disavow (something previously written or said) irrevocably and usually formally: recall, recant, retract, take back, withdraw. See accept/reject.

Retract, recant, or repudiate.
Word Tutor:

abjure

Top
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: To promise or swear to give up.

pronunciation The heavens rejoice in motion, why should I abjure my so much loved variety. — John Donne (1572-1631)

Tutor's tip: A defendant may "abjure" (or recant) his confession, while his lawyer "adjures" (earnestly urges) him to tell the truth.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'abjure'

Top
Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to abjure, see:

  See crossword solutions for the clue Abjure.
Translations:

Abjure

Top

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - afsværge, fornægte, opgive

Nederlands (Dutch)
afzweren

Français (French)
v. tr. - renoncer à

Deutsch (German)
v. - abschwören

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - αποκηρύσσω (με όρκο), απαρνούμαι (θρησκεία, πεποιθήσεις)

Italiano (Italian)
abiurare, sconfessare

Português (Portuguese)
v. - abjurar

Русский (Russian)
отрекаться, отступиться

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - renunciar a, abjurar

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - avsvärja sig, förneka

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
发誓放弃, 公开放弃, 避免

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 發誓放棄, 公開放棄, 避免

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 포기하다, 맹세하고 버리다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 誓ってやめる, 控える

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يعد, يقسم أمام الجمهور, يجتنب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮נשבע לוותר על, התנער מ-, התכחש, כפר ב-‬


 
 

 

Copyrights:

American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
 Fowler's Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press. © 1999, 2004 All rights reserved.  Read more
Roget's Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Barron's Law Dictionary. Law Dictionary. Copyright © 2003 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Word Tutor. Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved.
eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; sign up free Read more
Random House Word Menu. © 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier. Write Brothers Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
 Rhymes. Oxford University Press. © 2006, 2007 All rights reserved.  Read more
Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary. Collins Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary © Anne Bradford, 1986, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008 HarperCollins Publishers All rights reserved.  Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

Follow us
Facebook Twitter
YouTube