Repudiate
/rɪˈpjuːdi.eɪt/noun
To reject, refuse to accept, or disown someone or something.
Did you know?Repudiate comes from Latin repudiare, tied to repudium, the formal rejection of a marriage proposal or spouse—so the word began as a legal-social act of severing a bond.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*peu̯-
“to drive, push, strike”
Latin
Latin
repudium
“a rejection, especially of a marriage proposal or spouse”
Latin
Latin
repudiare
“to cast off, reject, divorce”
Late Latin / Old French
Latin / Old French
repudier
“to reject or cast off”
14th–15th Century
English
repudiate
“to reject formally; to disown or refuse”
Modern English
English
repudiate
“to reject, deny, or refuse to acknowledge”
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