Did you know?
Just as a jury swears to produce an unbiased verdict, and a witness swears to tell the truth on pain of perjury, those who abjure their former ways "swear them away." Abjure (as well as jury and perjury) comes from Latin jurare, which means "to swear" (and which in turn is based on the root jus, meaning "law"), plus the prefix ab-, meaning "away." These days, we can casually abjure (that is, abstain from) various vices, but in the 15th and 16th centuries to abjure was a matter of renouncing something under oath—and sometimes a matter of life and death. For example, during the Spanish Inquisition, individuals were given the choice between abjuring unacceptable beliefs and being burned at the stake.
Examples of abjure in a Sentence
Derek Robertson, The Washington Examiner, 13 June 2025
The Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 will be held in abeyance with immediate effect until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.
—Ross Rosenfeld, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Apr. 2025
Both President Trump and Attorney General–designate Pam Bondi are positioned to stop the lawfare, but only if the Democrats abjure their politicization of criminal justice.
—Raul A. Reyes, Newsweek, 22 Jan. 2025
Trump issues foreign policy diktats by social media, abjuring international consultation and consensus, but the Biden administration itself announced export controls on technology to China without the agreement of U.S. partners.
—Richard Fontaine, Foreign Affairs, 20 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for abjure
Cite this Entry
“Abjure.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abjure. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
abjure
verb
Legal Definition
abjure
transitive verb
Latin abjurare, from ab- off + jurare to swear
Share