recant
to formally take back a statement
Roots
- cant / chant: sing, chant, or say aloud
- re-: back, again, or backward motion
Other words with the cant / chant root
- chant: a repeated song or spoken phrase
Recant is to say back: a public unsaying.
Under pressure the witness refused to recant his account.
Chant keeps cantare's sing/say image familiar. Recant adds re-: the speaker takes words back or unsays them.