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Webster 1913 Edition

Abdicate

Ab′di-cate

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Abdicated
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Abdicating
.]
[L.
abdicatus
, p. p. of
abdicare
;
ab
+
dicare
to proclaim, akin to
dicere
to say. See
Diction
.]
1.
To surrender or relinquish, as sovereign power; to withdraw definitely from filling or exercising, as a high office, station, dignity;
as, to
abdicate
the throne, the crown, the papacy
.
☞ The word abdicate was held to mean, in the case of James II., to abandon without a formal surrender.
The cross-bearers
abdicated
their service.
Gibbon.
2.
To renounce; to relinquish; – said of authority, a trust, duty, right, etc.
He
abdicates
all right to be his own governor.
Burke.
The understanding
abdicates
its functions.
Froude.
3.
To reject; to cast off.
[Obs.]
Bp. Hall.
4.
(Civil Law)
To disclaim and expel from the family, as a father his child; to disown; to disinherit.
Syn. – To give up; quit; vacate; relinquish; forsake; abandon; resign; renounce; desert.
– To
Abdicate
,
Resign
. Abdicate commonly expresses the act of a monarch in voluntary and formally yielding up sovereign authority;
as, to
abdicate
the government
. Resign is applied to the act of any person, high or low, who gives back an office or trust into the hands of him who conferred it. Thus, a minister resigns, a military officer resigns, a clerk resigns. The expression, “The king resigned his crown,” sometimes occurs in our later literature, implying that he held it from his people. – There are other senses of resign which are not here brought into view.

Ab′di-cate

,
Verb.
I.
To relinquish or renounce a throne, or other high office or dignity.
Though a king may
abdicate
for his own person, he cannot
abdicate
for the monarchy.
Burke.

Webster 1828 Edition

Abdicate

AB'DICATE

,
Verb.
T.
[L. abdica; ab and dico, to dedicate, to bestow, but the literal primary sense of dico is to send or thrust.]
1.
In a general sense, to relinquish, renounce, or abandon.
2.
To abandon an office or trust, without a formal resignation to those who conferred it, or without their consent; also to abandon a throne, without a formal surrender of the crown. 3. To relinquish an office before the expiration of the time of service.
4.
To reject; to renounce; to abandon as a right.
5.
To cast away; to renounce; as to abdicate our mental faculties [Unusual.]
6.
In the civil law, to disclaim a son and expel him from the family, as a father; to disinherit during the life of the father.

AB'DICATE

,
Verb.
I.
To renounce; to abandon; to cast off; to relinquish, as a right, power, or trust.
Though a King may abdicate for his own person, he cannot abdicate for the monarchy.

Definition 2024

abdicate

abdicate

English

Verb

abdicate ‎(third-person singular simple present abdicates, present participle abdicating, simple past and past participle abdicated)

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To disclaim and expel from the family, as a father his child; to disown; to disinherit. [Attested from the mid 16th century until the early 19th century.]
  2. (transitive, reflexive, obsolete) To formally separate oneself from or to divest oneself of. [First attested from the mid 16th century until the late 17th century.]
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To depose. [Attested from the early 17th century until the late 18th century.]
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To reject; to cast off; to discard. [Attested from the mid 16th century until the late 17th century.]
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Bishop Hall to this entry?)
  5. (transitive) To surrender, renounce or relinquish, as sovereign power; to withdraw definitely from filling or exercising, as a high office, station, dignity; to fail to fulfill responsibility for. [First attested in the mid 17th century.]
    to abdicate the throne, the crown, the papacy
    Note: The word abdicate was held to mean, in the case of James II, to abandon without a formal surrender.
    • 1776, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:
      The cross-bearers abdicated their service.
    • 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France:
      He abdicates all right to be his own governor.
    • 1856, James Anthony Froude, History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth:
      The understanding abdicates its functions.
  6. (intransitive) To relinquish or renounce a throne, or other high office or dignity; to renounce sovereignty. [First attested in the early 18th century.]
    • 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France:
      Though a king may abdicate for his own person, he cannot abdicate for the monarchy.
Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

References

  • abdicate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Italian

Verb

abdicate

  1. second-person plural present indicative of abdicare
  2. second-person plural imperative of abdicare

Latin

Verb

abdicāte

  1. first-person plural present active imperative of abdicō

Etymology

  • First attested in 1541.
  • From Latin abdicātus ‎(“renounced”), perfect passive participle of abdicō ‎(“renounce, reject, disclaim”), formed from ab ‎(“away”) + dicō ‎(“proclaim, dedicate, declare”), akin to dīcō ‎(“say”).

Pronunciation

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