denounce

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English denouncen, also denounsen and denuncen,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French denoncier (“to proclaim, announce”), with the Anglo-Norman form denuncier,^[4][5][3][6] and directly borrowed from Latin dēnūntiō (“to announce officially; to threaten”).^[5][2][7] The Latin verb is formed from dē- (“down”) and nūntiō (“to announce, report”), from nūntius (“messenger”),^{[5][8][9][10]} which Etymonline derives from Proto-Indo-European *neu- (“to shout”)^[5][6] and Barnhart calls of uncertain origin.^[8] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from 1171–74 in the senses to proclaim, to announce, to foretell and to give warning of.^[11] The same Latin verb gave the rarer denunciate, which survives mainly in the noun denunciation.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To proclaim a person to be cursed or wicked: before 1325, in the Cursor Mundi.^[8][4] The MED also has the neutral sense to announce officially from before 1325,^[2] and Etymonline dates the word to the early 14th century in the sense to make known formally.^[5]

Semantic evolution

At first the word was close to announce:^[12] it meant to give formal or official news of something, and in the Wycliffite Bible (about 1384) it was used of tidings and information, a sense obsolete by the early 18th century.^[4][12] Etymonline thinks the negative sense grew, probably helped by other words in de-, through the senses to proclaim someone cursed, excommunicated or removed from office.^[5] From the late 15th century it meant to inform against an offender,^[4][5] from 1632 to announce something as a threat, such as punishment or vengeance,^[4][5] and since 1664, in John Evelyn's Sylva, to declare a person or thing publicly to be wicked, now the main sense.^[4][5] Johnson (1755) gave "to threaten by proclamation" first and "to give information against" third.^[13] The sense to give notice of ending a treaty, recorded from 1841, follows French dénoncer.^[4][12]

Timeline

• before 1325 – to proclaim a person to be cursed or bad, in the Cursor Mundi.^[8][4]
• c. 1384 – to announce or report a fact or tidings (obsolete by 1726).^[4]
• 1485 – to inform against an offender to the authorities.^[4][5]
• c. 1540 – to announce a coming event, usually a calamity such as war or death.^[4]
• 1581 – of things, to portend (obsolete by 1751).^[4]
• 1632 – to announce as a threat or warning.^[4][5]
• 1664 – to declare publicly to be wicked or evil.^[4][5]
• 1841 – to give formal notice of the end of a treaty or armistice.^[4]
• 1881 – in Spanish America, to report the discovery or abandonment of a mine to the authorities.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To condemn openly and strongly as wrong or evil: The bishop denounced the new law from the pulpit.^[14][3][4]
2. To give information against someone; to accuse to the authorities: She was denounced to the police by a neighbour.^[14][4]
3. To give formal notice of the end of a treaty or armistice.^[14][4]
4. (archaic) To announce formally or solemnly; to proclaim.^[3][7]
5. (archaic) To announce as a threat or warning: to denounce vengeance.^[7][4]
6. (obsolete, 1581–1751) Of things, to portend or foretell.^[14][4]

Word family

• denouncement
• denouncer
• undenounced

Related words

• denunciate
• denunciation
• denunciatory
• announce
• enounce
• pronounce
• renounce
• nuncio
• annunciation

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins