disown

/dəˈsoʊn/

/dɪˈsʌʊn/

Other forms: disowned; disowning; disowns

To disown someone is to reject them. If you disown your brother, you refuse to have anything to do with him: not only do you not speak or have contact, but it's as if he's no longer related to you.

When one person disowns another, it's because of some terrible argument or deep-rooted conflict. Although it's uncommon to disown another person, when it happens it's usually a family member who's cast off. Your mom might threaten to disown you after you drive her car into the mailbox, but she's probably not serious. Disown takes the root word own, meaning "to have or to hold," and adds the Latin prefix dis, "not" or "do the opposite of."

Definitions of disown

1. verb

   cast off
   synonyms: renounce, repudiate

   types:

   apostatise, apostatize, tergiversate

   abandon one's beliefs or allegiances

   abjure, forswear, recant, resile, retract

   formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure

   swallow, take back, unsay, withdraw

   take back what one has said

   confound, rebut, refute

   overthrow by argument, evidence, or proof

   deny

   refuse to accept or believe

   abnegate

   deny or renounce

   contradict, controvert, oppose

   be resistant to

   answer

   give a defence or refutation of (a charge) or in (an argument)

   type of:

   reject

   refuse to accept or acknowledge
2. verb

   prevent deliberately (as by making a will) from inheriting
   synonyms: disinherit

   type of:

   deprive

   keep from having, keeping, or obtaining