abdicate means to disclaim and expel from the family, as a father his child; to disown; to disinherit. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 79 out of 100.
abdicate is pronounced /ˈæb.dɪˌkeɪt/.
Why “abdicate” is a great word
ABDICATE — [Verb] To formally renounce or relinquish a high office, throne, or responsibility. From Latin abdicātus ("renounced"), perfect passive participle of abdicō ("to renounce, reject, disclaim"), formed from ab ("away") + dicō ("to proclaim, declare"). First attested in English in 1532. Unlike "resign," which implies a voluntary departure from any position, or "renounce," which broadly means to give up a claim or belief, to abdicate is the specific, public proclamation of surrender from sovereign power. It is the empty throne draped in shadow, the heavy crown left on a velvet cushion, and the signature that dissolves a lineage—the ultimate confession that power is a burden one can no longer bear.
Etymology
First attested in 1532; borrowed from Latin abdicātus (“renounced”), perfect passive participle of abdicō (“to renounce, reject, disclaim”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), formed from ab (“away”) + dicō (“proclaim, dedicate, declare”), akin to dīcō (“to say”). Compare Middle English abdicat (“forsaken, renounced”).
verb
- To disclaim and expel from the family, as a father his child; to disown; to disinherit.
- To formally separate oneself from or to divest oneself of.
- To depose.
- To reject; to cast off; to discard.“[W]e were legally call'd by his Majeſties writ to give our Attendance in Parliament, […] if we did not, we ſhould betray the Truſt committed to us by his Majeſtie, and ſhamefully betray and abdicate the due right both of our ſelves and Succeſſours.”
- To surrender, renounce or relinquish, as sovereign power; to withdraw definitely from filling or exercising, as a high office, station, dignity; to fail to fulfill responsibility for.“to abdicate the throne, the crown, the papacy”
- To relinquish or renounce a throne, or other high office or dignity; to renounce sovereignty.“Though a king may abdicate for his own person, he cannot abdicate for the monarchy.”