Renegade

How to spell renegade

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce renegade

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does renegade mean?

1. nounA person who abandons a group, cause, or set of principles, often turning against it.
2. adjectiveHaving rejected normal loyalty or rules; behaving in a rebellious or unauthorised way.

Renegade in a sentence

• noun

  The former minister was branded a renegade by his own party.

• adjective

  A renegade trader bypassed every control and gambled the firm's funds.

• noun

  A lone renegade broke ranks and leaked the documents to the press.

• adjective

  The report blamed a small renegade faction for sabotaging the talks.

Where does renegade come from?

Language of origin: Spanish

This word travelled into English from Spanish renegado, the past participle of renegar, which meant 'to deny' or 'to renounce'. That verb was built on the Latin renegare, formed from re- and negare 'to deny', so the literal sense was someone who has thoroughly denied or repudiated what they once professed. When English borrowed the word in the late 1500s, it specifically described a Christian who had renounced the faith and converted to Islam, an apostate; the broader meaning of a traitor, deserter, or rebel grew out of that. The Latin negare also sits inside familiar relatives such as 'negate', 'deny', and 'negative', which is a useful reminder that the heart of the word is a flat refusal. The Spanish ending -ado was anglicised to -ade, and that ending, rather than the expected -ado or -aid, is the main thing to fix in memory.

How the word is built

• re- (back, again)
• neg (from negare: to deny)
• -ade (noun suffix, via Spanish -ado)