Abdicates

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Formally renounces or surrenders a throne, high office, or position of authority
2. Voluntarily relinquishes ruling power or a noble position through an official act
3. Steps down from a sovereign or leadership role by officially resigning

Etymology: The idea behind "abdicate" is surprisingly physical: the Latin "abdicare" meant to disown or reject something, and it was built from "ab," meaning "away," and "dicare," to proclaim or declare. To abdicate was, at root, to declare something away from yourself. Romans used the word for renouncing a claim, office, or relationship, and the sense of formally giving up a position stayed close to that original act of declaring. English borrowed the word directly from Latin in 1532, first in its participle form "abdicatus," meaning "renounced." The verb "abdicate" followed, carrying the same legal flavour of making a formal, public disavowal. The "-ate" ending simply marks it as a Latin-derived verb, the same ending found in many words borrowed in the same period. The word's relative "dicare" also lies behind English words like "dedicate" and "indicate," which share the core idea of pointing out or declaring. Compare "abandon," which is unrelated in origin but expresses a similar idea of letting go.

Synonyms: renounces, relinquishes, resigns, surrenders, forsakes

Antonyms: assumes, accepts, takes, maintains, retains