abnegate

verb /ˈæb.nɪ.ɡeɪt/

1. To deny (oneself something); to renounce or give up (a right, a power, a claim, a privilege, a convenience).

   transitive

   To compel a state, upon theories of doubtful statutory interpretation, to appear as defendant suitor in its own courts, and to litigate with private parties as to whether it had abnegated its sovereignty of exemption, would be intolerable.

2. To relinquish; to surrender; to abjure.

   transitive

Where it comes from

First attested in 1657. * Perhaps from Latin abnegō (“to refuse, reject”) from ab (“away from”) + negō (“to deny”), * Alternatively, perhaps a back-formation from abnegation.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry abnegate (CC BY-SA 4.0).

← abliguritionabreact →

Another random word More words starting with A