abjure, v.
(æbˈdʒ(j)ʊə(r))
Also 6 abjowre.
[a. Fr. abjure-r (in Palsgr.), ad. L. abjūrā-re to deny on oath, f. ab away + jūrā-re to swear.]
1. To renounce on oath; to retract, recant, or abnegate (a position or opinion formerly held). a. trans.
| 1501 Will of John Bawde in Bury Wills 83 (1850) Alle tho wyllys abieured and revokyd byfor thys day mad. 1528 More Dial. Heres. i. Wks. 1557, 108/2 He was forced to forswere and abiure certaine heresyes. 1610 Shakes. Temp. v. i. 51 But this rough Magicke I heere abjure. 1774 Burke Sp. on Amer. Tax. Wks. II. 379 The principle which lord Hillsborough had abjured. 1829 Southey Young Dragon iii. Wks. VI. 274 My pagan faith I put away, Abjure it and abhor it. 1871 R. W. Dale Ten Commandts. vi. 155 I must die rather than abjure a single article of my creed. |
b. absol.
| 1528 More Dial. Heres. iv. Wks. 1557, 282/1 Nor neuer yet found I ani. j. but he would once abiure, though he neuer intended to kepe his othe. 1531 Dial. on Laws of Eng. ii. xxix. 115 (1638) If a man be convict of heresy and abjure, hee hath forfeit no goods. 1538 Bale Thre Lawes 1773 Wylt thu here abiure or no? I wyll neyther abiure, nor yet recant Gods glorye. |
† 2. causally. To cause to forswear or recant (heresies, etc.). Obs.
| 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. vii. 159 b/2 (1520) Reynold Pecoke bysshop of Chestre was founde an herytyke, and the thyrde daye of Decembre was abjured at Lambeth. 1494 Fabyan vii. ccxliv. 286 Almaricus, a studyent of Parys, helde sertayne opynyons of heresy, of y⊇ which whan he was abiured, he tooke suche thought y{supt} he dyed shortly after. 1528 More Dial. Heres. iii. Wks. 1557, 216/2 Considering that they might, as in conclusion they did, abiure him otherwise. 1536–42 Thynne Animadv. App. 1 And then all such must be burned, or ellis ab-Iuryd. |
3. To disclaim solemnly or formally; to repudiate or reject upon oath (a claim or claimant).
| 1597 Daniel Civ. War iv. xxix, The foule report Of that assasinate: which utterly He doth abjure. 1665 Manley tr. Grotius's Low-Countrey-Warrs 183 To abjure all Authority over the Netherlands. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 480 To find her, or for ever to deplore Her loss, and other pleasures all abjure. 1799 T. Jefferson Writings IV. 301 (1859) I sincerely join you in abjuring all political connection with every foreign power. 1851 Macaulay Essays, Milton I. 15 While they abjured the innocent badges of popery. 1863 Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. i. viii. 128 The oath prescribed for abjuring the Pretender and his descendants. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. I. v. 381 The assembly abjured the whole house of æthelred. 1877 Mozley Univ. Serm. i. 3 [The Christianity of the Gospel] abjures force, it throws itself upon moral influence for its propagation and maintenance. |
b. absol.
| 1671 Milton P.R. i. 473 Say and unsay, feign, flatter, and abjure. |
4. to abjure the realm, town, commonwealth, etc.: to swear to abandon it for ever.
| 1530 Palsgr. 415 I abjowre, I forsake myne errours, as an heretyke dothe, or forswere the kynges landes; Je abjure. 1576 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 497 If he take Sanctuarie, and do abiure the Realme. 1609 Sir J. Skene Reg. Mag. 155 Gif any man hes abjured the towne (sworne to passe forth of the burgh) and is returned againe. 1651 W. G. tr. Cowel's Inst. 274 He who kills Deere, and cannot finde security to put in for the payment of the Fine imposed, is compelled to abjure the Common-wealth. 1677 Hobbes Dial. on Com. Laws Eng. 183 When a Clerk heretofore was convicted of Felony, he might have saved his life by abjuring the Realm; that is, by departing the Realm within a certain time appointed, and taking an Oath never to return. 1768 Blackstone Comm. IV. 399 Even while abjurations were in force, such a criminal was not allowed to take sanctuary and abjure the realm. |
b. absol.
| 1726 Ayliffe Parergon 14 Whoever was not capable of this Sanctuary, could not have the Benefit of Abjuration: and therefore, he that committed Sacrilege could not abjure. |
† 5. causally. To cause one to forswear the realm, to banish. Obs.
| 1603 Drayton Barons Warres i. xv, T' abjure those false Lords from the troubled Land. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. 90 He was onely abjured the Realm for ever. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. xxvi. 269 His life was pardoned; notwithstanding he was abjured the realm. |