abjure

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See also: abjuré

English

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WOTD – 22 September 2024

Etymology

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From Late Middle English abjuren (“to give up (something); to recant or renounce (something) under oath”),[1] 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”).[2]

Pronunciation

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Verb

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abjure (third-person singular simple present abjures, present participle abjuring, simple past and past participle abjured) (formal)

  1. (transitive)
    1. To solemnly reject (someone or something); to abandon (someone or something) forever; to disavow, to disclaim, to repudiate. [from 15th c.]
      Synonyms: renounce; see also Thesaurus:repudiate
      to abjure errors
      • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], signature A3, recto:
        Her[mia]. […] But I beſeech your Grace, that I may knovve / The vvorſt that may befall mee in this caſe, / If I refuſe to vved Demetrius. / The[seus]. Either to dy the death, or to abiure, / For euer, the ſociety of men.
      • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signature Dd2, verso, lines 1115–1117:
        She diſappeerd, and left me dark, I vvak'd / To find her, or for ever to deplore / Her loſs, and other pleaſures all abjure: […]
      • 1825 August, Thomas Babington Macaulay, “[John] Milton. […]”, in Critical and Historical Essays, Contributed to the Edinburgh Review. […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: […] Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 32:
        [B]oth Charles [I] himself and his creature [William] Laud, while they abjured the innocent badges of Popery, retained all its worst vices, […]
      • 1855, Thomas L[ake] Harris, “Part Fourteen”, in An Epic of the Starry Heaven, 4th edition, New York, N.Y.: Partridge & Brittan, […], →OCLC, page 180:
        Only as thou abjurest self, / Lovest thy Brother more than pelf, / And drivest out the impish elf, // Sectarian pride, from all thy heart, / Canst thou have place, or lot, or part / Within the Heaven-created mart […]
      • 1902, Robert Marshall, “About Myself”, in The Haunted Major, Edinburgh: Grant & Murray […], published 1932, →OCLC, page 17:
        [S]he is an ardent golfer. Except during the season in town, she spends her year in golfing, either at St. Magnus or Pau, for, like all good Americans, she has long since abjured her native soil.
    2. (historical) To renounce (something) upon oath; to forswear; specifically, to recant or retract (a heresy or some other opinion); to withdraw. [from 15th c.]
      Synonyms: disavow, renounce; see also Thesaurus:recant
      to abjure allegiance to a prince
      • 1528, Thomas More, “A Dialogue Concernynge Heresyes & Matters of Religion […]. Chapter I.”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London: […] Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published 30 April 1557, →OCLC, book I, page 108, column 2:
        [T]he man ye write of, was of many thinges borne wrõge [wrong] in hande, & therin ſo ſore handeled that he was forced to for ſwere and abiure certaine hereſyes, & openly to penance therfore, where he neuer held any ſuch.
      • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 16, column 2:
        Graues at my command, / Haue vvak'd their ſleepers, op'd, and let 'em forth / By my ſo potent Art. But this rough Magicke / I heere abiure: […]
      • 1774 April 19, Edmund Burke, Speech of Edmund Burke, Esq. on American Taxation, April 19, 1774, 2nd edition, London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], published 1775, →OCLC, page 36:
        [T]he conceſſion vvas far ſhort of ſatisfying the principle vvhich Lord Hillſborough had abjured; or even the pretence on vvhich the repeal of the other taxes vvas announced: […]
      • 1786, [William Beckford], translated by [Samuel Henley], An Arabian Tale, from an Unpublished Manuscript: […] [Vathek], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 39:
        VVouldeſt thou devote thyſelf to me? Adore then the terreſtrial influences; and abjure Mahomet.
      • 1814, [Adelaide O’Keeffe], “Book XII”, in Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra; a Narrative, Founded on History. […], volume II, London: […] J. Dennett, […]; for F[rancis] C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 247:
        [W]hen, guided by learned rabbis, invincible generals, and sublime and enlightened heathens, thou in evil hour abjuredst the gospel, in outward act if not in heart, and ungratefully dismissed thy faithful adviser, thou didst seal the fate of thy country and thyself.
      • 1829, Robert Southey, “All for Love, or A Sinner Well Saved. Notes to All for Love.”, in All for Love; and The Pilgrim to Compostela, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 120:
        I wrote to him, saying, 'all these things, Lord, he hath abjured before me; admit him, therefore, if it pleaseth thee.' But he hath written back, 'unless he abjureth all this in writing, and in his own hand, I will not admit him.'
    3. (historical) To cause (someone) to recant or retract (a heresy or some other opinion). [from 15th c.]
      • a. 1662 (date written), Thomas Fuller, “Bark-shire”, in The History of the Worthies of England, London: […] J[ohn] G[rismond,] W[illiam] L[eybourne] and W[illiam] G[odbid], published 1662, →OCLC, page 90:
        [T]hey vvere betrayed, and then many of them to the number of ſix or ſeven ſcore vvere abjured, and three or four of them burnt. Novv although vve knevv not hovv to call theſe Martyrs vvho ſo ſuffered, their Names no doubt are vvritten in the Book of Life.
    4. (chiefly law, historical)
      1. Especially in abjure the realm: to swear an oath to leave (a place) forever.
        • a. 1680 (date written), Thomas Hobbes, “A Dialogue between a Philosopher & a Student of the Common Laws of England”, in William Molesworth, editor, The English Works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury; […], volume VI, London: John Bohn, […], published 1840, →OCLC, page 141:
          When a clerk heretofore was convicted of felony, he might have saved his life by abjuring the realm; that is, by departing the realm within a certain time appointed, and taking an oath never to return. But at this day all statutes for abjuration are repealed.
        • 1769, William Blackstone, “Of Offences against God and Religion”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book IV (Of Public Wrongs), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 56:
          [A]s a feme-covert recuſant may be impriſoned, ſo all others muſt, vvithin three months after conviction, either ſubmit and renounce their errors, or, if required ſo to do by four juſtices, muſt abjure and renounce the realm: and if they do not depart, or if they return vvithout the king's licence, they ſhall be guilty of felony, and ſuffer death as felons.
      2. (obsolete, rare) To cause or compel (someone) to leave a place forever; to banish.
        • 1603, Michaell [i.e., Michael] Drayton, “The Barrons Warres. The First Booke.”, in The Barrons Wars in the Raigne of Edward the Second. […], London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] Ling, →OCLC, stanza 15, page 6:
          The ſtrong effect of theyr conceiued ire, / Vrging the vveake King vvith a violent hand, / T' abiure thoſe falſe Lords from the troubled land.
        • 1655, Thomas Fuller, “Cent[ury] XIV. To Clement Throckmorton, the Elder, of Haseley in Warwick-shire, Esq”, in The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, book III, page 90:
          About this time a ſubject brought in a Bull of Excommunication againſt another ſubject of this Realm, and publiſhed it to the Lord Treaſurer of England, and this vvas by the ancient Common-Law of England adjudged Treason againſt the King, his Crovvn and dignity, for the vvhich, the offender ſhould have been dravvn and hanged, but at the great inſtance of the chancelour and Treaſurer, he vvas onely abjured the Realm for ever.
        • 1709, John Strype, “The Lord Keeper’s and Mr. Speaker’s Speeches. A Second Parliament. Matters Transacted Relating to Religion. […]”, in Annals of the Reformation and Establishment of Religion, and Other Various Occurrences in the Church of England; […], volume I, London: […] John Wyat, […], →OCLC, page 269:
          In the Time of King Edward III. one ſhould have been hanged, dravvn and quartered, for publiſhing an Excommunication, directed from the Biſhop of Rome againſt one of the King's Subjects. But at the Entreaty of the Lord Chancellor and Lord Treaſurer, his Life vvas pardoned; notvvithſtanding he vvas abjured the Realm.
  2. (intransitive)
    1. To solemnly reject; to abandon forever.
    2. (historical) To recant or retract a heresy on oath.
      • 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: […] Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published 30 April 1557, →OCLC, book IV, page 282, column 1:
        Nor neuer yet found I ani. j. [any one] but he would once abiure, though he neuer intended to kepe his othe.
      • 1983, Umberto Eco, translated by William Weaver, The Name of the Rose (A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book), New York, N.Y.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, →ISBN, page 238:
        And going toward the Justice Gate, many said to him, "Recant! Recant! Don't insist on dying," and he said, "Christ died for us." […] At the Field of Justice, one said to him he should do as a certain monk, his superior, had done, abjuring: but Michael answered that he would not abjure, and I saw many in the crowd agree and urge Michael to be strong: so I and many others realized those were his followers, and we moved away from them.
    3. (chiefly law, historical) To swear an oath to leave a place forever.
      • 1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John Palsgrave], “The Table of Verbes”, in Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse⸝ […], [London]: […] [Richard Pynson] fynnysshed by Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, 3rd boke, folio cxxxvi, verso; reprinted Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, October 1972, →OCLC:
        I Abiowre⸝ I forſake myne errours as an heretyke dothe⸝ or forſwere the kynges landes⸝ ie abiure, prime coniugationis.
      • 1610 October, John Foxe, “The Historie of Diuers Good Men and Women, Persecuted for Religion in the Citie and Dioces of the Bishop of London, Briefly Extracted out of the Registers of Richard Fitziames”, in The Second Volume of the Ecclesiasticall Historie, Containing the Acts and Monuments of Martyrs, […], 6th edition, volume II, London: […] [Humphrey Lownes] for the Company of Stationers, →OCLC, book VII, page 736, column 2:
        Well to bee ſhort, what for the cauſes before recited, as alſo for that they had once alreadie abiured, and yet (as they terme it) fell againe into relapſe, they were both (as you haue heard) in the end burned together in Smithfield: […]
      • 1789, John Kelyng[e], “High-Treason”, in [John] Holt, editor, A Report of Divers Cases in Pleas of the Crown, Adjudged and Determined in the Reign of the Late King Charles II. […], Dublin: […] P. Byrne, […], page 36:
        One abjureth and is after taken in England, and demanded what he could ſay, why Execution ſhould not be awarded, he ſtands mute, he ſhall be hanged, and not put to penance or preſſed; becauſe he was attainted of the Felony before by his Confeſſion: For he cannot have the Benefit of the Sanctuary to abjure, unleſs he confeſs the Felony which is entered on Record by the Coroner; […]

Usage notes

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Not to be confused with adjure.

Conjugation

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Conjugation of abjure
infinitive (to) abjure
present tense past tense
1st-person singular abjure abjured
2nd-person singular abjure, abjurest† abjured, abjuredst†
3rd-person singular abjures, abjureth† abjured
plural abjure
subjunctive abjure abjured
imperative abjure —
participles abjuring abjured

†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

References

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  1. ^ “abjūren, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “abjure, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2024; “abjure, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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French

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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abjure

  1. inflection of abjurer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Portuguese

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Verb

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abjure

  1. inflection of abjurar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /abˈxuɾe/ [aβ̞ˈxu.ɾe]
  • Rhymes: -uɾe
  • Syllabification: ab‧ju‧re

Verb

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abjure

  1. inflection of abjurar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
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