Lexic.us

Definition of Abdicate

1. Verb. Give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations. "The King abdicated when he married a divorcee"

Definition of Abdicate

1. v. t. 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.

2. v. i. To relinquish or renounce a throne, or other high office or dignity.

Definition of Abdicate

1. Verb. (transitive) 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. ¹

2. Verb. (transitive, obsolete) To formally separate oneself from or to divest oneself of. ¹

3. Verb. (transitive) To reject; to cast off. ¹

4. Verb. (transitive legal) To disclaim and expel from the family, as a father his child; to disown; to disinherit. ¹

5. Verb. (intransitive) To relinquish or renounce a throne, or other high office or dignity; to renounce sovereignty. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Abdicate

1. to give up formally [v -CATED, -CATING, -CATES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Abdicate

Literary usage of Abdicate

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The History of British India by James Mill, Horace Hayman Wilson (1858)
"... Military Establishment pressed on the Nabob of Oude — His Reluctance — He proposes to abdicate in favour of his Son—The Governor-General presses him, ..."

2. English Synonyms Explained & Illustrated: Explained and Illustrated by J. H. A. Günther (1904)
"abdicate - to give up royal power esp. in a voluntary, public, ... She could not abdicate her throne, neither could any wrest it away from Her. — L. MALET. ..."

3. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1831)
"... which broke out in the camp near Tortona, at the foot of the Alps. He was compelled to abdicate the Imperial purple : five days after his abdication, ..."

4. Memoirs of Count Miot de Melito, Minister, Ambassador, Councillor of State by André François Miot de Melito, Wilhelm August Fleischmann, John Lillie (1881)
"... King's interview with the Emperor—Napoleon insists that his brother shall abdicate the throne of Spain—Hesitation of the King—The situation becomes more ..."

5. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1918)
"Internally his success and glory were abdicate at will; in England, only by consent of Parliament — which however, as in the case of James II, can assume an ..."

6. Gems of Chinese Literature by Herbert Allen Giles (1884)
"HOW YAO WISHED TO abdicate. The great Yao begged Hsii-yu to become Emperor in his stead, saying, " If, when the sun and moon are shining brightly, ..."

7. The History of the Popes: From the Close of the Middle Ages. Drawn from the by Ludwig Pastor (1906)
"... the Synod was in an untenable position * when Gregory XII. solved its difficulties by his magnani- -'- t f. i • (X-1' mous resolution to abdicate. ..."

8. The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History, Politics, and Literature for by Edmund Burke (1831)
"... but his proceedings are disregarded—The Deputies name the Duke of Orleans Lieutenant General of the Kingdom—The King and the Dauphin abdicate in favour ..."

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