- Today's Word
Abjure
ab-JOOR (or ab-JYUR)
Definition
- (verb) To formally renounce, reject, or give up a belief, claim, or practice, often under oath.
Example
After years of conflict, the leader abjured violence and committed to a peaceful resolution.
Fun Fact
“Abjure” comes from the Latin abjurare, meaning “to swear away.” Historically, it was often used in legal and religious contexts, where individuals would publicly renounce their previous beliefs or allegiances. One famous example is Galileo, who was forced to abjure his support of heliocentrism before the Catholic Church. Today, the word is often used metaphorically, as in “abjuring unhealthy habits” or “abjuring outdated traditions.”
(adjective) So fundamentally different in kind that comparison or combination is difficult or impossible.
The committee was made up of disparate voices — a retired military general, a teenage climate activist, a Wall Street banker, and a rural farmer — who somehow had to reach a single consensus.
Disparate comes from the Latin disparatus, the past participle of disparare — “to separate” — built from dis- (“apart”) and parare (“to prepare” or “to arrange”). It entered English in the 16th century, used to describe things so fundamentally unlike one another that they resist any meaningful comparison or grouping. It shares its Latin root with separate, making the two words distant cousins whose shared ancestry reflects their shared meaning.