abdicates

verb

  1. To disclaim and expel from the family, as a father his child; to disown; to disinherit.

  2. To formally separate oneself from or to divest oneself of.

  3. To depose.

  4. To reject; to cast off; to discard.

  5. To surrender, renounce or relinquish, as sovereign power; to withdraw definitely from filling or exercising, as a high office, station, dignity; to fail to fulfill responsibility for.

    "Note: The word abdicate was held to mean, in the case of James II, to abandon without a formal surrender."

  6. To relinquish or renounce a throne, or other high office or dignity; to renounce sovereignty.

Synonyms: abandon, abjure, cast aside, cast off, cede, desert, disinherit, disown, forego, forsake, give up, quit, refuse, reject, relent, relinquish, renounce, repudiate, resign, retire, stand down, surrender, vacate, waive, yield
Antonyms: claim, grasp, maintain, occupy, retain, seize, usurp