Renegue

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To go back on a promise or commitment, thereby failing to follow through on what was agreed upon
2. To retract or withdraw from a previously stated position or obligation, often causing disappointment or breach of trust
3. To abandon a course of action or agreement, typically resulting in a failure to uphold a prior assurance or commitment

Etymology: "Renegue" is simply an alternative spelling of "renege," and the word traces back to a Latin verb built from two familiar pieces. Latin "renegō" combined "re-", meaning "back" or "again," with "negō", meaning "to deny" or "to say no." To renege, then, is literally to deny back: to take a yes and say no to it. The word arrived in English by direct borrowing from Latin, and it has a sibling in the language. "Renay," a doublet, came into English through a different route and survives as an older, now largely obsolete form. A more familiar relative is "renegade," which shares the same Latin source and drifted into a sense of someone who abandons their faith or cause. Some scholars suggest the modern spelling and sense may have been nudged along by "renegotiate," which sounds similar and shares the "re-" prefix, though this influence is only a possibility.

Synonyms: repudiate, retract, withdraw, disown, abjure

Antonyms: adhere, confirm, uphold, support, embrace