Meanings
recant1
present singular third person recants · participle present recanting · participle past recanted · past recanted
- ambitransitiveTo withdraw or repudiate a statement or opinion formerly expressed, especially formally and publicly.
Convince me that I am wrong, and I will recant.
2 more examples
How soon […] ease would recant / Vows made in pain, as violent and void!
1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLCBut as Mr. Trump denounces what he describes as failures by the Washington establishment on China, Mr. Biden, an avatar of that establishment, is not recanting his past enthusiasm for engagement.
2020 September 6, “Joe Biden’s China Journey”, in New York TimesSynonyms: abjure, disavow, disown, recall, retract, revoke, take back, unsay
recant2
present singular third person recants · participle present recanting · participle past recanted · past recanted
- To give a new cant (slant, angle) to something, in particular railway track on a curve.
Numerous curves, which previously had given no trouble at 75 and 80 m.p.h., were realigned and recanted to adapt them for 90 m.p.h. and more, [...].
1941 June, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 263
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo withdraw or repudiate a statement or opinion formerly expressed, especially formally and publicly.
More synonyms by meaning
verbformally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
recant · verb
- Latinrecantare“to sing back, reecho, sing again, repeat in singing, recant, recall, revoke, charm back or away”
- Englishrecant
First attested in 1535, from Latin recantare (“to sing back, reecho, sing again, repeat in singing, recant, recall, revoke, charm back or away”), from re- (“back”) + canto (“to chant, to sing”), frequentative of cano.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →recant · verb
- Proto-Italic*wre-
- Latinre-
- Old Frenchre-
- Middle Englishre-
- Englishre-
- Englishcant
- Englishrecant
Translations
Bulgarian отричам се, отмятам се
- отричам се (otričam se)to withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
- отмятам се (otmjatam se)to withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
Chinese Mandarin 撤回
- 撤回 (chèhuí)to withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
Czech odvolat
- odvolatto withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
Dutch intrekken, terugtrekken
- intrekkento withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
- terugtrekkento withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
Finnish vetää takaisin, perua puheensa
- vetää takaisinto withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
- perua puheensato withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
- muuttaa lausuntoaanto withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
French rétracter, se rétracter
- rétracterto withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
- se rétracterto withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
- retirerto withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
German zurücknehmen, zurückziehen
- zurücknehmento withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
- zurückziehento withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
- widerrufento withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
Greek αποκηρύσσω, αναιρώ
- αποκηρύσσω (apokirýsso)to withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
- αναιρώ (anairó)to withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
- παλινωδώ (palinodó)to withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
Icelandic taka aftur, draga til baka
- taka afturto withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
- draga til bakato withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
Māori whakakore
- whakakoreto withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
Norwegian Bokmål dementere
- dementereto withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
Russian отрека́ться
- отрека́ться (otrekátʹsja)to withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
Spanish retractarse
- retractarseto withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
Thai กลับคำ, คืนคำ
- กลับคำ (glàp-kam)to withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
- คืนคำ (kʉʉn-kam)to withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
- ถอนคำ (tɔ̌ɔn-kam)to withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
- ถอนคำพูด (tɔ̌ɔn-kam-pûut)to withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with recant
Anagrams
Cite this entry
recant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recant
“recant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recant. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “recant,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recant.
Source: recant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.