这些单词均有抛弃和否认的含义。其中，forswear指发誓抛弃或公开承认某种行为有罪或有过错，强烈表示希望完全放弃此种行为，故该单词具有一种悔罪或忏悔的内涵[1]。abjure常指愤怒地否认或拒绝，该词曾具有的发誓抛弃的含义，而今已不在常用[2]。disavow和disclaim常用于对牵连关系或责任的断然否认，因而正好与forswear的认罪内涵相反。disavow曾经指正式发誓否认，现在则常指拒绝承认某事有效或否认与他人的关系，如否认代理人未经授权的行为，或否认某授权的效力等[3]。尽管disclaim也可用于对责任的否认（如disclaim all complicity in the assassination)，但它却更常用于指放弃原可属于自己的权利或资格[4]。disown可指拋弃任何事物，此外，其还用于指否认并脱离与他人，尤其是与亲人的关系，如：The father disowned his son and wrote him out of his will. (父亲断绝了与儿子的关系，将他从自己的遗嘱中除名）[5]。

[1]“To reject, renounce, or deny under oath. ”Cf. Linda Picard Wood, J. D. Merriam Webster's Dictionary of Law，at p. 201 , Merriam-Webster, Incorporated (1996).

[2]“Abjure is more forceful in sometimes implying an angry rejection；it also referred once to renunciation under oath，but less often applied in this way now. ”Cf. The Editors of The Reader's Digest, Use the Right Word, at p. 229, The Reader's Digest Association Proprietary Ltd. (1971).

[3]“To repudiate the unauthorized act of an agent；to deny the authority by which he assumed to act. ”Cf. The Publisher's Editorial Staff, Black's Law Dictionary, abridged 6th edition, at p. 299, West Publishing Co. (1991).

[4]“To renounce or disavow a right, interest, benefit, or claim"，Cf. James E. Clapp, Random House Webster's Dictionary of the Law, at p. 139，Random House (2000).

[5] “ Disown at its most general can suggest any sort of abandonment. The word is often used in a special way, however, referring to the total rejection of a disliked person, often a near relative. " Cf. The Editors of The Reader's Digest, Use the Right Word, at p. 229, The Reader's Digest Association Proprietary Ltd. (1971).