forswear vs renounce

forswear and renounce both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
forswear	No	No	Yes	No
renounce	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, renounce is a hypernym of forswear; that is, renounce is a word with a broader meaning than forswear:

forswear: formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure
renounce: cast off

Other hypernyms of forswear include disown, repudiate.

forswear (verb)	renounce (verb)
formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure	cast off
	turn away from; give up
	leave (a job, post, or position) voluntarily
	give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations