REPUDIATE

repudiate

(verb) refuse to acknowledge, ratify, or recognize as valid; “The woman repudiated the divorce settlement”

disown, renounce, repudiate

(verb) cast off; “She renounced her husband”; “The parents repudiated their son”

repudiate

(verb) reject as untrue, unfounded, or unjust; “She repudiated the accusations”

repudiate

(verb) refuse to recognize or pay; “repudiate a debt”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

repudiate (third-person singular simple present repudiates, present participle repudiating, simple past and past participle repudiated)

(transitive) To reject the truth or validity of; to deny.

Synonyms: deny, contradict, gainsay

(transitive) To refuse to have anything to do with; to disown.

Synonyms: disavow, forswear, Thesaurus:repudiate

(transitive) To refuse to pay or honor (a debt).

Synonym: welsh

(intransitive) To be repudiated.

Source: Wiktionary

Re*pu"di*ate (-t), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Repudiated (-`td); p. pr. & vb. n. Repudiating.] Etym: [L. repudiatus, p. p. of repudiare to repudiate, reject, fr. repudium separation, divorce; pref. re- re- + pudere to be ashamed.]

1. To cast off; to disavow; to have nothing to do with; to renounce; to reject. Servitude is to be repudiated with greater care. Prynne.

2. To divorce, put away, or discard, as a wife, or a woman one has promised to marry. His separation from Terentis, whom he repudiated not long afterward. Bolingbroke.

3. To refuse to acknowledge or to pay; to disclaim; as, the State has repudiated its debts.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition