Defn: Purification by washing the hands before prayer; — a
Mohammedan rite. Heyse.
ABDICABLE
Ab"di*ca*ble, a.
Defn: Capable of being abdicated.
ABDICANT
Ab"di*cant, a. Etym: [L. abdicans, p.pr. of abdicare.]
Defn: Abdicating; renouncing; — followed by of.
Monks abdicant of their orders. Whitlock.
ABDICANT
Ab"di*cant, n.
Defn: One who abdicates. Smart.
ABDICATE
Ab"di*cate, v.t. [imp. & p.p. Abdicated; p.pr. & vb.n. Abdicating.]
Etym: [L. abdicatus, p.p. of abdicare; ab + dicare to proclaim, akin
to dicere to say. See Diction.]
1. To surrender or relinquish, as sovereign power; to withdraw definitely from filling or exercising, as a high office, station, dignity; as, to abdicate the throne, the crown, the papacy.
Note: The word abdicate was held to mean, in the case of James II., to abandon without a formal surrender. The cross-bearers abdicated their service. Gibbon.