Meaning of renounce in English

Table of contents

Verb
renounce
Etymology
late Middle English: from Old French renoncer, from Latin renuntiare‘protest against’, from re- (expressing reversal) + nuntiare‘announce’
Definitions
1. give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations
Examples
- « The King abdicated when he married a divorcee »
Derived terms
2. leave (a job, post, post, or position) voluntarily
Examples
- « She vacated the position when she got pregnant »
- « The chairman resigned when he was found to have misappropriated funds »
Derived terms
- resignation
3. turn away from
Examples
- « give up »
- « I am foreswearing women forever »
Derived terms
4. cast off or disown
Examples
- « She renounced her husband »
- « The parents repudiated their son »
Derived terms

Famous quotes

« Alaska is what happens when Willy Wonka and the witch from Hansel and Gretel elope, buy a place together upstate, renounce their sweet teeth, and turn into health fanatics. »
Sloane Crosley
« Experience is a revelation in the light of which we renounce our errors of youth for those of age. »
Ambrose Bierce
« It was in our power to cause the Arab governments to renounce the policy of strength toward Israel by turning it into a demonstration of weakness. »
Moshe Dayan
« The best people renounce all for one goal, the eternal fame of mortals but most people stuff themselves like cattle. »
Heraclitus
« No one who has lived even for a fleeting moment for something other than life in its conventional sense and has experienced the exaltation that this feeling produces can then renounce his new freedom so easily. »
Andre Breton