Abdicate Definition

ăbdĭ-kāt

abdicated, abdicates, abdicating

verb

abdicated, abdicates, abdicating

To relinquish (power or responsibility) formally.

American Heritage

To give up formally (a high office, throne, authority, etc.)

Webster's New World

To relinquish formally a high office or responsibility.

American Heritage

To surrender or repudiate (a right, responsibility, etc.)

Webster's New World

To surrender, renounce 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; to fail to fulfill responsibility for. [First attested in the mid 17^th century.]

Note: The word abdicate was held to mean, in the case of James II, to abandon without a formal surrender.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Origin of Abdicate

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

From Wiktionary
Latin abdicāre abdicāt- to disclaim ab- away ab–¹ dicāre to proclaim deik- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
First attested in 1541.

From Wiktionary