abjure

ab•jure (ab-JOOR, -JUR)  v tr

Definition:
1. to renounce, repudiate, or retract, especially with formal solemnity; recant
2. to renounce or give up under oath; forswear
3. to avoid or shun
abjured past participle; abjured past tense; abjuring present participle; abjures 3rd person singular present; abjuration, abjurer noun; abjuratory adjective

Origin:
early 15c., from M.Fr. abjurer or directly from L. abjurare "deny on oath," from ab- "away" + jurare "to swear," related to jus (gen. juris) "law"

Related:
Synonyms: forswear, recant, renege, renounce, retract, withdraw
Related Words: jury, conjure, adjure, perjury

Sentence Examples:
• This literary trifle, “A Message to Garcia,” was written one evening after supper, in a single hour. ... The thing leaped hot from my heart, written after a trying day, when I had been endeavoring to train some rather delinquent villagers to abjure the comatose state and get radio-active. - A Message to Garcia, Elbert Hubbard

• It is true that two of these Little People have no friends at all, but then it was their own choice, for did they not deliberately cast themselves away, and abjure all society but that of their mute companion? - Seven Little People and their Friends, Horace Elisha Scudder

•    Now, Faustus,
     Must thou needs be damn'd, canst thou not be sav'd.
     What boots it, then, to think on God or heaven?
     Away with such vain fancies, and despair;
     Despair in God, and trust in Belzebub:
     Now, go not backward, Faustus; be resolute:
     Why waver'st thou?  O, something soundeth in mine ear,
     "Abjure this magic, turn to God again!"
     Why, he loves thee not;
     The god thou serv'st is thine own appetite,
     Wherein is fix'd the love of Belzebub:
     To him I'll build an altar and a church,
     And offer lukewarm blood of new-born babes.
- Dr. Faustus, Christopher Marlowe


Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

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