abdication

Meaning

Noun

• The act of disowning or disinheriting a child.
• The act of abdicating; the renunciation of a high office, dignity, or trust, by its holder.
• The voluntary renunciation of sovereign power.
• The renunciation of interest in a property or a legal claim; abandonment.
• The action of being deposed from the seat of power.

Origin

• First attested in 1552. From Middle French abdication, from Latin abdicātiō ("renunciation"), from abdicō.