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RECANTATION
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| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does recantation mean?
• RECANTATION (noun)
The noun RECANTATION has 1 sense:
1. a disavowal or taking back of a previous assertion
Familiarity information: RECANTATION used as a noun is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
A disavowal or taking back of a previous assertion
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
abjuration; recantation; retraction
Hypernyms ("recantation" is a kind of...):
disavowal; disclaimer (denial of any connection with or knowledge of)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "recantation"):
backdown; climb-down; withdrawal (a retraction of a previously held position)
Derivation:
recant (formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure)
Context examples
Before she had committed herself by any public profession of eternal friendship for Jane Fairfax, or done more towards a recantation of past prejudices and errors, than saying to Mr. Knightley, She certainly is handsome; she is better than handsome!
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
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