English

Etymology

First attested in 1552. From Latin abdicātiō (“renunciation”), from abdicō.[1][2] By surface analysis, abdicate +‎ -ion.

Pronunciation

Noun

abdication (countable and uncountable, plural abdications)

  1. (obsolete) The act of disowning or disinheriting a child. [Attested from the mid 16th century until the mid 17th century.][3]
  3. The act of abdicating; the renunciation of a high office, dignity, or trust, by its holder. [First attested in the early 17th century.][3]
  4. The voluntary renunciation of sovereign power. [First attested in the late 17th century.][3]
    abdication of the throne, government, power, authority
    the king’s abdication
    • 2025 October 31, Marina Hyde, “Now Andrew has been fired from the Firm, a nation wonders: who’ll be next?”, in The Guardian‎[1], →ISSN:
      So yes: the abdication was when the Windsors opened the gate. After that it was – and will be – whack-a-mole. Every crisis will draw significant numbers of people out who would ask why you couldn’t cut off whoever was displeasing them in that moment.
  5. (obsolete, law) The renunciation of interest in a property or a legal claim; abandonment. [Attested only in the mid 18th century.][3]
  6. (obsolete) The action of being deposed from the seat of power. [Attested only in the mid 17th century.][3]

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ Elliott K. Dobbie, C. William Dunmore, Robert K. Barnhart, et al. (editors), Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2004 [1998], →ISBN), page 2
  2. ^ “abdication, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abdication”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 3.

Further reading

French

Etymology

    Borrowed from Latin abdicātiōnem.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    abdication f (plural abdications)

    1. abdication

    Descendants

    Further reading

    Interlingua

    Noun

    abdication (plural abdicationes)

    1. abdication
    source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abdication