Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
DISOWN
disown, renounce, repudiate
(verb) cast off; “She renounced her husband”; “The parents repudiated their son”
disinherit, disown
(verb) prevent deliberately (as by making a will) from inheriting
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
disown (third-person singular simple present disowns, present participle disowning, simple past and past participle disowned)
(transitive) To refuse to own, or to refuse to acknowledge one’s own.
(transitive) To repudiate any connection to; to renounce.
Synonyms: disavow, disclaim, Thesaurus:repudiate
(transitive, computing, Unix) To detach (a job or process) so that it can continue to run even when the user who launched it ends his/her login session.
Usage notes
Particularly used of parents regarding their children, and stronger than the similar estrange, which can also be used of children regarding their parents, or of siblings.
Anagrams
• indows
Source: Wiktionary
Dis*own", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Disowned; p. pr. & vb. n. Disowning.]
1. To refuse to own or acknowledge as belonging to one's self; to disavow or deny, as connected with one's self personally; as, a parent can hardly disown his child; an author will sometimes disown his writings.
2. To refuse to acknowledge or allow; to deny. Then they, who brother's better claim disown, Expel their parents, and usurp the throne. Dryden.
Syn.
– To disavow; disclaim; deny; abnegate; renounce; disallow.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
25 March 2025
IMMOBILIZATION
(noun) fixation (as by a plaster cast) of a body part in order to promote proper healing; “immobilization of the injured knee was necessary”
Coffee Trivia
