abjure

American  

[ab-joor, -jur] / æbˈdʒʊər, -ˈdʒɜr /

verb (used with object)

abjured, abjuring

1. to renounce, repudiate, or retract, especially with formal solemnity; recant.

   to abjure one's errors.

2. to renounce or give up under oath; forswear.

   to abjure allegiance.

3. to avoid or shun.

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abjure British  

/ əbˈdʒʊə /

verb

1. to renounce or retract, esp formally, solemnly, or under oath

2. to abstain from or reject

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Other Word Forms

• abjuration noun
• abjuratory adjective
• abjurer noun
• nonabjuratory adjective
• unabjuratory adjective
• unabjured adjective

Etymology

Origin of abjure

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin abjūrāre to deny on oath, equivalent to ab- ab- + jūrāre to swear; see jury ¹

Explanation

Abjure means to swear off, and it applies to something you once believed. You can abjure a religious faith, you can abjure your love of another person, and you can abjure the practice of using excessive force in interrogation. Abjure is a more dramatic way to declare your rejection of something you once felt or believed. When you see its Latin roots, it makes sense: from ab- (meaning "away") and jurare ("to swear"). When you abjure something, you swear it away and dissociate yourself with it. You might abjure the field of astrology after receiving a bad fortune, or you might abjure marriage after a bitter divorce.

Example Sentences

If there was an abiding theme across X’s work and life, it was the attempt to subvert a fixed self, choosing to cycle through artistic personas and abjure her personal history.

From New York Times • Mar. 18, 2023

Thus many find it fashionable to abjure party labels, insisting they vote “for the man” or “the woman,” as the case may be, independent of any partisan considerations.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2022

By 1907, when Sargent was 51, he’d had enough: “No more paughtraits,” he wrote in a now-famous note, “I abhor and abjure them and hope never to do another especially of the Upper Classe.”

From Washington Post • Mar. 5, 2020

People who are otherwise deemed sceptical abjure their reason and believe in miracles.

From The Guardian • Apr. 10, 2019

He was arrested on the charge of being a priest, but, although extraordinary efforts were made to induce him to abjure his opinions, he remained firm.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 4 "Hero" to "Hindu Chronology" by Various