abnegation

abnegation

See also: abnégation

English

Etymology

First attested before 1398. From Middle English abnegacioun, borrowed from Late Latin abnegātiō, from abnegō (“refuse, deny”), from ab (“off”) + negō (“deny; refuse, say no”). Compare French abnégation.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌæbnɪˈɡeɪʃən/, /ˌæbnəˈɡeɪʃən/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

abnegation (countable and uncountable, plural abnegations)

1. A denial; a renunciation; denial of desire or self-interest. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][1]
   • 1558, John Knox, Letter to the Queen Dowager:

     With abnegation of God, of his honor, and of religion, they may retain the friendship of the court.

   • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 20, in The Dust of Conflict‎:

     Tony's face expressed relief, and Nettie sat silent for a moment until the vicar said “It was a generous impulse, but it may have been a momentary one, while in the case of monk and crusader there must have been a sustaining purpose, and possibly a great abnegation, a leaving of lands and possessions.”

   Synonyms: repudiation, self-denial, denial, renunciation

Derived terms

• self-abnegation

 

Related terms

• abnegate
• abnegator
• abnegatory

 

Translations

denial; renunciation

Arabic: نكران تنازل‎ Bulgarian: отричане (bg) n (otričane), отхвърляне (bg) n (othvǎrljane) Catalan: abnegació f Dutch: verloochening (nl), verwerping (nl) m, afwijzing (nl) Esperanto: abnegacio Finnish: kieltäminen (fi) French: abnégation (fr) f Irish: diúltú m Italian: abnegazione (it) f Macedonian: самоодреку́вање n (samoodrekúvanje) Malayalam: നിരാകരണം (ml) (nirākaraṇaṃ) Portuguese: abnegação (pt) f Romanian: abnegație (ro) f Russian: самоотрече́ние (ru) m (samootrečénije) Spanish: abnegación (es) f Ukrainian: зречення (uk) n (zrečennja), запере́чення n (zaperéčennja); самопожертва (uk) f (samopožertva)

References

1. Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief; William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abnegation”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 6.

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Interlingua

Noun

abnegation (plural abnegationes)

1. abnegation