_Repudiate, Ringlet, Outburst_ (Vol. iv., p. 54.).--Your correspondent
H. C. K. has dealt, I fear, somewhat too harshly with "repudiate."
Surely "repudiare" is "to reject what one is ashamed of, scorns, or
disdains." Two instances immediately suggest themselves in _Cicer. pro
Plancio_, 18 (44). 20 (50). In the former--
"Respuerent aures, nemo agnosceret, repudiarent,"
perhaps the word is a gloss upon "respuerunt." The latter, however, is
unexceptionable:
"Nunquam enim fere nobilitas, integra præsertim atque innocens, a
Populo Romano supplex repudiata fuit."
Why then should "repudiate" necessarily imply the notion of
"obligation?" and why should I, if I "repudiate" the criticism of H. C.
K., be held to "talk nonsense?"
May I be allowed room for a couple of Queries? 1. Is our modern usage of
"ringlet" found before the time of Milton? 2. What is the earliest
authority for "outburst?"