What does renounce mean?
Word: Renounce
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Renounce means to give up a title, claim, right or belief officially and in public. It is also used when you say that you no longer support something.
Synonyms: give up, abandon, relinquish, reject
Antonyms: claim, retain
Word origin: From Old French renoncer, from Latin renuntiare, 'to announce, to protest against', from re- 'back' and nuntiare 'to announce'.
How do you spell renounce?
Syllables: re - nounce
Tricky part: The 'ow' sound in the middle is spelt ou, not ow: renownce is the usual slip.
Watch out for: renownce, renaunce
Memory tip: The 'ow' sound is spelt ou, just as it is in out and loud.
Renounce in a sentence
Example 1: The prince renounced his claim to the throne and became a painter.
Example 2: Gandhi asked Indians to renounce foreign cloth and wear homespun cotton instead.
Example 3: Luca renounced sugar for a month before the football trials.
Fun Fact
The Latin root nuntius, 'messenger', also lives on in announce and pronounce, which share the -nounce ending of renounce.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the pair which has a spelling error:
a) maintain : maintenance
b) exclaim : exclamation
c) explain : explanation
d) renounce : renounciation
Show answer
d) renounce : renounciation. Like explanation and exclamation, the noun drops a letter of its verb: renunciation has no o.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
My uncle chose to renounse his share of the farm so that his younger sister could keep the family home.
a) 0
b) 2
c) 3
d) 1
Show answer
d) 1. Only renounse is wrong: renounce ends in -ce.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
According to the dictionary, to renounce something is to ___ say that you no longer want it or believe in it.
a) formally
b) normally
c) formaly
d) formerly
Show answer
a) formally. Formally means in an official way; formerly means in the past, and formaly is misspelt.
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
12345678 ecoernun
a) 57631284
b) 51627834
c) 51637824
d) 51638724
Show answer
c) 51637824. Read in that order, the letters give renounce.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Pick the clearest example of renouncing something.
a) winning a medal on school sports day
b) buying a new pair of running shoes
c) sending a birthday card to a friend
d) giving up your citizenship of a country
Show answer
d) giving up your citizenship of a country
2. A cricketer who renounces the captaincy ___.
a) is dropped from the whole team
b) steps down from it of his own accord
c) wins a trophy as the captain
d) is chosen for it once again
Show answer
b) steps down from it of his own accord
