Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To condemn openly as being wrong or reprehensible. synonym: criticize.
  • transitive verb To inform against (someone); accuse publicly.
  • transitive verb To give formal announcement of the ending of (a treaty).

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In diplomacy, to announce the intention of abrogating (a treaty) in accordance with its provisions or arbitrarily.
  • To make known in a formal manner; proclaim; announce; declare.
  • To proclaim or declare as impending or threatened; formally or publicly threaten to do or effect; make a menace of: as, to denounce war; to denounce punishment.
  • To proclaim censure or condemnation of; brand publicly; stigmatize; arraign: as, to denounce one as a swindler, or as a coward.
  • To make formal or public accusation against; inform against; accuse: used especially where knowledge of wrongful acts has been acquired confidentially or stealthily: as, to denounce a confederate in crime; to denounce one to the authorities.
  • In Mexican and Spanish mining-law:
  • To lay an information against (a mine) as forfeit because of abandonment, or through being insufficiently worked; hence, to claim the right to work (such a mine) by laying an information against it.
  • To announce and register the discovery of (a new mine or mineral deposit), and thus preëmpt; hence, to lay claim to on the ground of discovery and registry.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To make known in a solemn or official manner; to declare; to proclaim (especially an evil).
  • transitive verb To proclaim in a threatening manner; to threaten by some outward sign or expression.
  • transitive verb To point out as deserving of reprehension or punishment, etc.; to accuse in a threatening manner; to invoke censure upon; to stigmatize.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive, obsolete To make known in a formal manner; to proclaim; to announce; to declare.
  • verb transitive To criticize or speak out against (someone or something); to point out as deserving of reprehension or punishment, etc.; to openly accuse or condemn in a threatening manner; to invoke censure upon; to stigmatize; to blame.
  • verb transitive To make a formal or public accusation against; to inform against; to accuse.
  • verb transitive, obsolete To proclaim in a threatening manner; to threaten by some outward sign or expression; make a menace of.
  • verb transitive To announce the termination of; especially a treaty or armistice.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb announce the termination of, as of treaties
  • verb speak out against
  • verb to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful
  • verb give away information about somebody

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English denouncen, to proclaim, from Anglo-Norman denuncier and Medieval Latin dēnūntiāre, both from Latin : dē-, de- + nūntiāre, to announce (from nūntius, messenger; see neu- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French denuncier, from Latin dēnūntiō, from de + nūntiō ("to announce", "to report", "to denounce"), from nūntius ("messenger", "message")

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