abjure means to solemnly reject (someone or something); to abandon (someone or something) forever; to disavow, to disclaim, to repudiate. It carries an Arena rating of 1807, earned across 37 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, abjure ranks #1,435 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #2,029 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #2,714 of 17,135 for Most Malleable Words, #2,914 of 17,131 for Scariest Words.
abjure is pronounced /əbˈd͡ʒʊə(ɹ)/.
Why “abjure” is a great word
ABJURE — [Verb] To renounce or reject a belief, claim, or course of action formally and solemnly, often under oath. From the Latin abiūrāre, from ab- ("away from") + iūrāre ("to swear, take an oath"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ("law, right"). First attested in English in the early 15th century. Unlike "renounce," a broad relinquishment, or "recant," a pressured retraction, to abjure is a ritual of unswearing, a ceremonial severance made sacred by the vow it breaks. It is the heretic's signature drying on a parchment of retraction, the cold weight of a signet ring sealing a disavowal, or the addict's trembling hand raised in a circle of folding chairs—a conscious uncoupling from a former certainty, leaving a permanent signature on the soul.
Etymology
From Late Middle English abjuren (“to give up (something); to recant or renounce (something) under oath”), from Anglo-Norman abjurer, Middle French abiurer, abjurer, and Old French abjurer (“to reject or renounce (something) on oath”) (modern French abjurer), and from their etymon Latin abiūrāre, the present active infinitive of abiūrō (“to deny on oath, recant, renounce, repudiate, abjure”), from ab- (prefix meaning ‘away from, from’) + iūro (“to take an oath, swear, vow”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- (“(adjective) right; straight; upright; (noun) justice; law; right”).
verb
- To solemnly reject (someone or something); to abandon (someone or something) forever; to disavow, to disclaim, to repudiate.e.g.“to abjure errors”
- To renounce (something) upon oath; to forswear; specifically, to recant or retract (a heresy or some other opinion); to withdraw.e.g.“to abjure allegiance to a prince”
- To cause (someone) to recant or retract (a heresy or some other opinion).
- Especially in abjure the realm: to swear an oath to leave (a place) forever.
- To cause or compel (someone) to leave a place forever; to banish.
- To solemnly reject; to abandon forever.
- To recant or retract a heresy on oath.e.g.“Nor neuer yet found I ani. j. [any one] but he would once abiure, though he neuer intended to kepe his othe.” — 1528, Thomas More, “A Dialogue Concernynge Heresyes & Matters of Religion […]. Chapter XVI.”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London: […]
- To swear an oath to leave a place forever.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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