Definitions

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

  • intransitive verb To make a formal retraction or disavowal of (a statement or belief to which one has previously committed oneself).
  • intransitive verb To make a formal retraction or disavowal of a previously held statement or belief.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To sing over again; utter repeatedly in song.
  • To unsay; contradict or withdraw formally (something which one had previously asserted); renounce; disavow; retract: as, to recant one's opinion or profession of faith.
  • Synonyms Abjure, Forswear, etc. See renounce.
  • To revoke a declaration or proposition; unsay what has been said; renounce or disavow an opinion or a dogma formerly maintained; especially, to announce formally one's abandonment of a religious belief.

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

  • intransitive verb To revoke a declaration or proposition; to unsay what has been said; to retract.
  • transitive verb To withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly (opinions formerly expressed); to contradict, as a former declaration; to take back openly; to retract; to recall.

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

  • verb transitive, intransitive To withdraw from or repudiate a statement or opinion formerly expressed, especially formally and publicly.

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

  • verb formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure

Etymologies

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

[Latin recantāre : re-, re- + cantāre, to sing, frequentative of canere; see kan- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

First attested in 1535, from Latin recantare, present active infinitive of recanto ("to sing back, reecho, sing again, repeat in singing, recant, recall, revoke, charm back or away"), from re- ("back") + canto ("to chant, to sing"), frequentative of cano.

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Examples

Comments

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  • I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.

    (Martin Luther)

    March 18, 2008