abˈju̇(ə)r, əb-, -u̇ə transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English abjuren, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French abjurer, from Latin abjurare, from ab- ab- (I) + jurare to swear — more at jury
1. : to disclaim formally or renounce upon oath
solemnly abjures his allegiance to his former country
: give up : reject
abjure his old beliefs
2. : to take oath to leave (as a realm or country)
the criminal was allowed to claim immunity by abjuring the realm
3. : to abstain from : avoid
abjure extravagant claims for a product
Synonyms:
renounce , forswear , recant , retract : abjure indicates a firm, final rejecting or abandoning made with measured conviction and, often, signalized by oath or other formality
the friar concluded with beseeching the Peruvian monarch to receive him kindly, to abjure the errors of his own faith, and embrace that of the Christians now proffered to him — W.H.Prescott
Galileo was summoned before the Inquisition at Rome, and there he was made to abjure the Copernican theory — S.F.Mason
renounce indicates a giving up or casting off of something previously believed, practiced, or adhered to, with some spoken or tacit indication of the change of position
abandoning wife and children, home and business, and renouncing normal morality and humanity — G.B.Shaw
he was later to renounce impressionism, and to quarrel with most of the impressionists — Herbert Read
they made a monk of me; I did renounce the world, its pride and greed — Robert Browning
forswear may indicate resolute rejection; it may apply to dishonorable or ill-advised rejection of that to which one should adhere
Mr. Dulles grants by implication that the Peking regime is the government of China. He insists that it forswear the use of force in advancing its ambitions — New Republic
support him in an apostasy, in a forswearing of honor and principle, for personal power — J.C.Fitzpatrick
recant is likely to indicate rejection of a previously adhered-to belief or position accompanied by admission of error and acceptance of a sanctioned belief
Shostakovich, as our newspapers have told us, has suffered from official criticism and been forced to recant and rewrite — W.C.Huntington
if Christians recanted they were to be spared, but if they persisted in their faith they were to be executed — K.S.Latourette
retract indicates a withdrawing or calling back, often of a statement or implication to someone's discredit
give the present writer an opportunity of retracting criticism from his own pen which he now feels to have been unjust — Richard Garnett
they … retract what they have said, and say publicly that they were mistaken — Rose Macaulay