ABDICATION

n. act of relinquishing office or power, resignation

Abdication (from the Latin abdicatio, disowning, renouncing, from ab, from, and dicare, to declare, to proclaim as not belonging to one) is the act of renouncing and resigning from a formal office, especially from the supreme office of state. In Roman law the term was also applied to the disowning of a family member, as the disinheriting of a son. The term commonly applies to monarchs, or those who have been formally crowned. A similar term for an elected or appointed official is resignation.
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Noun
1. a formal resignation and renunciation of powers
(synonym) stepping down
(hypernym) resignation
(derivation) abdicate, renounce
2. the act of abdicating
(synonym) stepping down
(hypernym) resignation
(derivation) abdicate, renounce

n. abdication, act of relinquishing office or power; resignation

(n.)
The act of abdicating; the renunciation of a high office, dignity, or trust, by its holder; commonly the voluntary renunciation of sovereign power; as, abdication of the throne, government, power, authority.