disown

[ dis-ohn ]
See synonyms for: disowndisowneddisowningdisownment on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to refuse to acknowledge as belonging or pertaining to oneself; deny the ownership of or responsibility for; repudiate; renounce: to disown one's heirs; to disown a published statement.

Origin of disown

1
First recorded in 1610–20; dis-1 + own

Other words for disown

Other words from disown

  • dis·own·ment, noun

Words Nearby disown

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use disown in a sentence

  • He helped win the Cold War for a country that he would probably now disown more than ever.

  • When Clive Goodman was jailed for phone hacking back in 2007, his employers were quick to disown him.

    Murdoch’s Damning Letter | William Underhill | August 16, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • But thou, O my Provence, bePg 195 not disturbed about the sons that disown thee and repudiate thy speech.

    Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred Downer
  • He wanted to run away, longed to disown all knowledge of the vulgar creature who accompanied him.

    The Everlasting Arms | Joseph Hocking
  • The Corporation would virtuously disown him and leave him to face a ten-year rap in Penal Colony.

    Insidekick | Jesse Franklin Bone
  • To disown allegiance altogether never for a moment coincides with his sense of the becoming.

  • He is unfit to be called a man, he is unworthy to marry a gentlewoman; and as for that hussy, I disown her.

    Memoirs of Mr. Charles J. Yellowplush | William Makepeace Thackeray

British Dictionary definitions for disown

disown

/ (dɪsˈəʊn) /


verb
  1. (tr) to deny any connection with; refuse to acknowledge

Derived forms of disown

  • disowner, noun
  • disownment, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012