abrogate

verb ab·ro·gate \ ˈa-brə-ˌgāt \

Definition of abrogate

abrogated; abrogating

transitive verb

formal

1 : to abolish by authoritative action : annul

abrogate a treaty

2 : to treat as nonexistent : to fail to do what is required by (something, such as a responsibility)_

The company's directors are accused of abrogating their responsibilities.

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abrogation

play \ˌa-brə-ˈgā-shən\ noun

See abrogate defined for English-language learners

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Examples of abrogate in a Sentence

If UAL continues to bleed red ink, some analysts say bankruptcy—which would allow it to abrogate its union contracts—may be its only hope. —Business Week, 12 Nov. 2001
We may not always like what we hear but we are always the poorer if we close down dialogue; if we abrogate free speech, and the open exchange of ideas. —Nikki Giovanni, Sacred Cows … and Other Edibles, 1988
For their part, some of the pipeline companies saddled with these contracts for high-priced, deregulated gas have declared that they will simply abrogate them … —Barry Commoner, New Yorker, 2 May 1983
The company's directors are accused of abrogating their responsibilities.
the U.S. Congress can abrogate old treaties that are unfair to Native Americans

Recent Examples of abrogate from the Web

In response, the North Koreans booted the IAEA inspectors out of the reactor, abrogated the Non-Proliferation Treaty, resumed processing plutonium, and stepped up the enrichment of uranium.

— fred kaplan, Slate Magazine, "Sorry, Trump, but Talking to North Korea Has Worked," 10 Oct. 2017
The current question in the Philippines is whether, even absent the terrorists and drug traffickers, Duterte’s instinct would be to abrogate democratic norms.

— jessica trisko darden, Washington Post, "The Philippines just extended martial law. How far will Duterte go to stop terrorism?," 14 Dec. 2017
But business groups and free-trade lawmakers in Mr. Trump’s Republican party loudly protested the notion of abrogating the treaty.

— byron tau, WSJ, "White House Steps Back From Ending Korea Trade Pact," 6 Sep. 2017
Tennessee actually did secede; Bull Run and Manassas were the same battle; the Compromise of 1850 did not abrogate the Missouri Compromise of 1820; Lincoln did not choose his own running mate in 1864 (or in 1860, for that matter).

— michael burlingame, WSJ, "Lincoln’s Road to Emancipation," 4 July 2017
Even so, critics of the pact, including Netanyahu, have seized on Iran's activities in the region as a reason to abrogate the agreement.

— nicole gaouette, CNN, "Netanyahu pitches his UN address to one man: Donald Trump," 19 Sep. 2017
Around the time Bush abrogated the ABM Treaty and started deploying ABM systems for the first time in three decades, Congress exempted the Missile Defense Agency from the rigorous test-hurdles that most other weapons systems have to clear.

— fred kaplan, Slate Magazine, "Trump claims that U.S. missile defense works 97 percent of the time. It doesn’t, and it’s a problem if he thinks that.," 17 Oct. 2017
In this future, which the rest of us are much too naive to understand, nothing will ever be devised by humankind, or at least American humankind, to discourage mass shootings without fatally abrogating the Second Amendment.

— kevin riordan, Philly.com, "No need to wait for next massacre to talk common sense on guns," 5 Oct. 2017
That by itself would not abrogate the deal, but would give Congress 60 days to reimpose sanctions on Iran, an action that would mean an end to the agreement, at least for the United States.

— peter baker and rick gladstone, New York Times, "Trump Pushes to Revisit Iran Nuclear Deal, and Asks Allies to Help," 20 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'abrogate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

abrogate vs. arrogate

Abrogate and arrogate may easily be confused because they look and sound alike and are infrequently used and therefore unfamiliar. Despite their apparent similarities, these two words have markedly different meanings and do not share an origin. Abrogate (“ to abolish by authoritative action”) comes from the Latin abrogāre, meaning “to repeal (a law).” Arrogate (“to claim or seize without justification”) shares its etymology with arrogant; both may be traced to the Latin verb arrogāre, meaning “to appropriate to oneself.”

Should you abdicate, abrogate, abjure, or just resign?

Several words may be confused with abdicate through either a similarity of sound or of meaning. Among these are abrogate, abjure, and resign. All of these words have multiple meanings that are quite distinct from one another, yet each also has a degree of semantic overlap that renders them nearly synonymous with at least one of the others.

Abdicate is most often used to describe a head of state or member of a royal family voluntarily renouncing a position. It may also refer to the act of failing to fulfill a duty a responsibility. It shares this second meaning with abrogate (although the “failing to fulfill one’s duty” sense of this word is more common in the United Kingdom than in the United States). The senses of abrogate most commonly found are “to annul” or “to do away with.”

Abjure may be used to mean “to abstain from” or “to give up,” but often is used with the meaning of “to disclaim formally or renounce upon oath” (it comes from the Latin jurare, meaning “to swear”).

And finally, resign is often used with the meaning of “to give up one’s office or position.”

Despite the similarities among these words, they tend to be used in fairly specific settings. You would not typically tell your employer that you are abdicating your position in order to look for a better job; you would say that you are resigning. And when the king of a country renounces his claim on the throne to marry his one true love, he would be said to abdicate, rather than resign, his position.

Did You Know?

If you can't simply wish something out of existence, the next best thing might be to "propose it away." That's more or less what "abrogate" lets you do - etymologically speaking, at least. "Abrogate" comes from the Latin root rogare, which means "to propose a law," and ab-, meaning "from" or "away." We won't propose that you try to get away from the fact that "rogare" is also an ancestor in the family tree of "prerogative" and "interrogate." "Abrogate" first appeared in English as a verb in the 16th century; it was preceded by an adjective sense meaning "annulled" or "cancelled" which is now obsolete.

Origin and Etymology of abrogate

borrowed from Latin abrogātus, past participle of abrogāre, "to repeal (a law), repudiate, cancel," from ab- ab- + rogāre "to ask, ask an assembly for approval of" — more at rogation

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1520

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

abrogate Synonyms

Synonyms

abate, abolish, annul, avoid, cancel, dissolve, invalidate, negate, null, nullify, quash, repeal, rescind, roll back, strike down, vacate, void;

Near Antonyms

enact, lay down, legislate;

establish, found, institute;

formalize, legalize, legitimate, legitimize, validate;

pass, ratify;

allow, approve, authorize, clear, endorse (also indorse), permit, sanction, warrant;

command, decree, mandate, order, prescribe;

abort, call, call off, drop, recall, retract, reverse, revoke, suspend, withdraw;

ban, enjoin, forbid, outlaw, prohibit;

disallow, dismiss, reject;

annihilate, break down, eliminate, eradicate, erase, liquidate, remove, throw out, write off;

Phrases

do away with, set aside;

Synonym Discussion of abrogate

nullify, negate, annul, abrogate, invalidate mean to deprive of effective or continued existence. nullify implies counteracting completely the force, effectiveness, or value of something.

- a penalty nullified the touchdown

negate implies the destruction or canceling out of each of two things by the other.

- the arguments negate each other

annul suggests making ineffective or nonexistent often by legal or official action.

- the treaty annuls all previous agreements

abrogate is like annul but more definitely implies a legal or official act.

- a law to abrogate trading privileges

invalidate implies making something powerless or unacceptable by declaration of its logical or moral or legal unsoundness.

- the court invalidated the statute

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

Law Dictionary

abrogate

transitive verb ab·ro·gate \ ˈa-brə-ˌgāt \

legal Definition of abrogate

abrogated; abrogating

: to abolish by authoritative, official, or formal action : annul, repeal

a recent addition to [section] 51B abrogates statutory and common-law privileges
—J. S. J. Elder and A. G. Rodgers

—

abrogation

play \ˌa-brə-ˈgā-shən\ noun

Origin and Etymology of abrogate

Latin abrogare, from ab- off + rogare ask, ask for approval of (a law)

Learn More about abrogate

See words that rhyme with abrogate Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for abrogate Spanish Central: Translation of abrogate Nglish: Translation of abrogate for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of abrogate for Arabic speakers

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abrogate

Definition of abrogate

abrogation

Examples of abrogate in a Sentence

Recent Examples of abrogate from the Web

abrogate vs. arrogate

Should you abdicate, abrogate, abjure, or just resign?

Did You Know?

Origin and Etymology of abrogate

abrogate Synonyms

Synonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

Phrases

Synonym Discussion of abrogate

Other Government and Politics Terms

Law Dictionary

abrogate

legal Definition of abrogate

abrogation

Origin and Etymology of abrogate

Learn More about abrogate

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