abdication
abdication (ab-di-kay-sh[schwa]n), n. The act of renouncing or abandoning privileges or duties, esp. those connected with high office (Edward VIII’s abdication of the Crown in 1936) (the court’s abdication of its judicial responsibility). — abdicate (ab-di-kayt), vb. — abdicable (ab-di-k[ schwa]-b[schwa]l), adj. — abdicator (ab-di-kay-t[schwa]r), n.