Other forms: denounced, denouncing, denounces
To denounce is to publicly declare something to be wrong or evil. Denounce the attack, publicly denounced, denounce him as a traitor.
The public part is essential: denouncing is done aloud and to an audience, which is why it belongs to statements, speeches and pulpits. It also means informing on somebody to an authority, which is the darker sense and the one that matters in the history of police states. Note denunciation; and that the Latin means to announce down upon, from nuntius, a messenger.
1verbdenounceTo publicly declare something to be wrong or evil.
“Religious leaders denounced the attack as a crime against humanity.”
2verbinformTo inform on somebody to an authority.
“During the war, some people denounced their neighbours to the secret police.”
denounce is a public condemning.
Also accepted in games: condemn
Latin denuntiare is de- plus nuntiare, to announce, from nuntius, a messenger. Announce, pronounce and renounce come from the same messenger.
Latin
dēnūntiō — to announce, to denounce, to threaten
Old French
denuncier
English, today
denounce
Built from
From Old French denuncier, from Latin dēnūntiō (“to announce, to denounce, to threaten”), from de + nūntiō (“to announce, to report, to denounce”), from nūntius (“messenger, message”). a doublet of denunciate.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA