recant

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“
The pope had threatened Luther with excommunication if he did not recant, and the threat was now fulfilled.

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. transitive verb To make a formal retraction or disavowal of (a statement or belief to which one has previously committed oneself).
  2. intransitive verb To make a formal retraction or disavowal of a previously held statement or belief.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (50)

  • Affirmation, offer, deliberation, recant, and finally, contemplation are all Orange had been doing over Blackberry Bold†™ s release. —  Cell Phone Beat
  • Kolpack was asked to recant or denounce her thesis, as well as give an oath of loyalty and a profession of faith. —  National Catholic Reporter
  • We must get her to publicly recant, if not repent.
  • In demanding that British Bishop Richard Williamson recant, the Vatican did little to mitigate the public relations damage done by the decision of Pope Benedict XVI to return this Holocaust-denier to the church. —  Freep.com - RSS
  • The fact that your are conversing with a Muslim right now is a mercy from the Lord; a chance for you to recant, retrace your steps and repent unto Him. —  Brain Blogger
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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recant:   recanted
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin recantāre : re-, re- + cantāre, to sing, frequentative of canere; see kan- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Old French recanter, rechanter, sing again, =Provencal rechantar =Portuguese recantar =Italian ricantare, sing again, from Latin recantare, sing back, reëcho, also sing again, repeat in singing, recant, recall, revoke, charm back or away. from re-, back, + cantare, sing: see chant and cant.
 

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/rəˈkænt/
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