disown

Etymology

It is formed from English dis- + own,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} with the verb in Etymonline's account in the sense "to be responsible for, have legal authority over".^[3] The OED compares the earlier disclaim, disavow and disacknowledge.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To cease to own; to give up possession of or renounce: about 1620, in H. Anderson's Bidding World Farewell, the only record of that sense.^[2][6] Etymonline dates the verb to the 1620s,^[3] Dictionary.com to 1610–20,^[5] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged to 1630.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, giving up what one owns, gave way to refusing to acknowledge something as one's own, recorded from 1650 in H. Parker.^[2][6] From there the verb extended to denying anything imputed or claimed, from 1666 (in Pepys) to 1726,^[2] and to rejecting a government's authority over oneself, from 1693.^[2] From 1727 the Society of Friends used it for expelling someone from membership.^[2][4] Johnson (1755) gave "to deny; not to allow" and "to abrogate; to renounce", quoting Dryden and Swift.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1620 – to give up possession of, renounce.^[2]
• 1650 – to refuse to acknowledge as one's own; repudiate.^[2]
• 1666 – to refuse to admit something imputed or claimed; deny (obsolete after 1726).^[2]
• 1693 – to refuse to acknowledge the authority of a government.^[2]
• 1727 – in the Society of Friends, to expel from membership.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To refuse to acknowledge as one's own or as connected with oneself; to repudiate: The painter later disowned his early portraits.^[8][4][2]
2. To refuse to acknowledge the authority or validity of, as of a government or ruler.^[4][2]
3. (Society of Friends) To expel from membership.^[4][2]
4. (obsolete, 1666–1726) To deny or refuse to admit something imputed or claimed.^[2][7]

Word family

• disownment
• disowner

Related words

• own

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins