Etymology

abnegate

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Today it means: To deny (oneself something); to renounce or give up (a right, a power, a claim, a privilege, a convenience). Full definition →

First used First attested in the early 17ᵗʰ century.Latin abnegō
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromabnegō“to refuse, reject”
  2. English todayabnegate

First attested in 1657. * Perhaps from Latin abnegō (“to refuse, reject”) from ab (“away from”) + negō (“to deny”), * Alternatively, perhaps a back-formation from abnegation.

First known use, by meaning

  • First attested in the early 17ᵗʰ century. To deny (oneself something); to renounce or give up (a right, a power, a claim, a privilege, a convenience).
  • First attested in the mid 18ᵗʰ century. To relinquish; to surrender; to abjure.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.