noun
Freq #51145
Meanings
-
1
noun
the formal act of giving up a throne or other position of sovereign power
The king's abdication placed his daughter on the throne.
-
2
noun
a failure or refusal to fulfill a responsibility
Ignoring the crisis was an abdication of leadership.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Latin abdicatio, ‘a renunciation,’ derived from abdicare, ‘to disown or renounce,’ and attested in English from the sixteenth century.