verb no object

say that one no longer holds an opinion or belief, especially one considered heretical:

｟かたく｠ (〈自説･前言など〉を)(公に)撤回する, 放棄する; (…を)改宗する

e.g. heretics were burned if they would not recant

e.g. with object : Galileo was forced to recant his assertion that the earth orbited the sun.

recanter |rəˈkan(t)ər| noun

mid 16th century: from Latin recantare ‘revoke’, from re- (expressing reversal) + cantare ‘sing, chant’.