Abdicate

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Abdicate \Ab"di*cate\, v. 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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The word abdicate was held to mean, in the case of
           James II., to abandon without a formal surrender.
           [1913 Webster]
  
                 The cross-bearers abdicated their service.
                                                    --Gibbon.
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     2. To renounce; to relinquish; -- said of authority, a trust,
        duty, right, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He abdicates all right to be his own governor.
                                                    --Burke.
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              The understanding abdicates its functions. --Froude.
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     3. To reject; to cast off. [Obs.] --Bp. Hall.
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     4. (Civil Law) To disclaim and expel from the family, as a
        father his child; to disown; to disinherit.
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     Syn: To give up; quit; vacate; relinquish; forsake; abandon;
          resign; renounce; desert.
  
     Usage: 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.
            [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Abdicate \Ab"di*cate\, v. i.
     To relinquish or renounce a throne, or other high office or
     dignity.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Though a king may abdicate for his own person, he
           cannot abdicate for the monarchy.        --Burke.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  abdicate
       v : give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or
           duties and obligations; "The King abdicated when he
           married a divorcee" [syn: {renounce}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  48 Moby Thesaurus words for "abdicate":
     abandon, abjure, acknowledge defeat, be pensioned,
     be superannuated, cashier, cast, cease, cede, cry quits, demit,
     desist from, drop, forgo, forswear, give over, give up, hand over,
     have done with, jettison, lay down, leave, leave off, pension off,
     quit, reject, relinquish, renounce, renounce the throne, resign,
     retire, retire from office, scrap, shed, slough, stand aside,
     stand down, step aside, superannuate, surrender, throw away,
     throw out, throw up, vacate, waive, withdraw from, wrest, yield