Meanings
present singular third person disowns · participle present disowning · participle past disowned · past disowned
- transitiveTo refuse to own, or to refuse to acknowledge one’s own.
Lord Capulet and his wife threatened to disown their daughter Juliet if she didn’t go through with marrying Count Paris.
1 more example
Here is a Proclamation for a Prince: that proclaims him in whoſe name it is emitted [James II of England], to be the greateſt Tyrant that ever lived in the world, and their Revolt who have diſowned him to be the juſteſt that ever was.
1744, Alexander Shiels, “Period VI.”, in A Hind Let Loose, Edinburgh: Reprinted by R. Drummond and Company, →OCLC, pages 167–168 - transitiveTo repudiate any connection to; to renounce.
He disowns me, and he scorns me / But when we're alone he tells me I'm his very own
1968, Don Covay, “I'm Gonne Take What He's Got”, in Tell Mama, performed by Etta JamesSynonyms: disavow, disclaim, abjure, deny, disavow, disclaim, forsay, forswear
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo repudiate any connection to; to renounce.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
- Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
- Proto-Indo-European*d(w)is-
- Proto-Italic*dis-
- Latindis-
- Old Frenchdes-
- Latindis-
- Middle Englishdis-
- Englishdis-
- Englishown
- Englishdisown
Translations
Ancient Greek ἀπαναίνομαι
- ἀπαναίνομαι (apanaínomai)to refuse to own
Arabic تَبَرَّأَ, تَبَرَّأَ مِنْ
- تَبَرَّأَ (tabarraʔa)to refuse to own
- تَبَرَّأَ مِنْ (tabarraʔa min)to refuse to own
Bulgarian отричам се, отказвам се
- отричам се (otričam se)to refuse to own
- отказвам се (otkazvam se)to refuse to own
Chinese Mandarin 斷絕關係 /断绝关系
- 斷絕關係 /断绝关系 (duànjué guānxì)to refuse to own
Czech zavrhnout, zříci se
- zavrhnoutto refuse to own
- zříci seto refuse to own
Dutch verloochenen, verstoten
- verloochenento refuse to own
- verstotento refuse to own
Esperanto malagnoski
- malagnoskito refuse to own
Finnish hylätä, kieltää
- hylätäto refuse to own
- kieltääto refuse to own
French renier
- renierto refuse to own
German verstoßen, verleugnen
- verstoßento refuse to own
- verleugnento refuse to own
- ableugnento refuse to own
- enteignento refuse to own
- zurückweisento refuse to own
- sich distanzierento refuse to own
Greek αποκηρύσσω, απαρνούμαι
- αποκηρύσσω (apokirýsso)to refuse to own
- απαρνούμαι (aparnoúmai)to refuse to own
Hebrew הִתְנַכֵּר
- הִתְנַכֵּר (hitnakér)to refuse to own
Hungarian kitagad
- kitagadto refuse to own
Irish séan
- séanto refuse to own
Italian disconoscere
- disconoscereto refuse to own
Latin infitior
- infitiorto refuse to own
Māori whakaparahako, whakarei
- whakaparahakoto refuse to own
- whakareito refuse to own
Persian پرمخیدن
- پرمخیدن (parmaxidan)to refuse to own
Portuguese renegar
- renegarto refuse to own
Russian отрека́ться, отре́чься
- отрека́ться (otrekátʹsja)to refuse to own
- отре́чься (otréčʹsja)to refuse to own
Scottish Gaelic diùlt
- diùltto refuse to own
Spanish renegar, repudiar
- renegarto refuse to own
- repudiarto refuse to own
- desafijar (disused)to refuse to own
Turkish evlatlıktan reddetmek
- evlatlıktan reddetmekto refuse to own
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with disown
Cite this entry
disown. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disown
“disown.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disown. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “disown,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disown.
Source: disown on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.