repudiation (n.)

1540s, "divorce" (of a woman by a man), from Latin repudiationem (nominative repudiatio) "a rejection, refusal," noun of action from past-participle stem of repudiare (see repudiate). Meaning "action of disowning" is by 1850; specifically as "disavowal of an obligation, as of a debt lawfully contracted," by 1843, often originally of U.S. states during the financial crisis of 1837-43.