Wiktionary

abolish

English edit

Etymology edit

From late Middle English abolisshen, from Middle French aboliss-, extended stem of abolir,[1] from Latin abolēre (“to retard, check the growth of, (and by extension) destroy, abolish”), and inchoative abolēscere (“to wither, vanish, cease”),[2] probably from ab (“from, away from”) + *olēre (“to increase, grow”).[3]

Pronunciation edit

  • (UK) enPR: ə-bŏl'ĭsh IPA(key): /əˈbɒlɪʃ/
  • (US) IPA(key): /əˈbɑl.ɪʃ/, /əˈbɑl.əʃ/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Verb edit

abolish (third-person singular simple present abolishes, present participle abolishing, simple past and past participle abolished or (obsolete) abolisht)

  1. To end a law, system, institution, custom or practice. [First attested from around 1350 to 1470.][4]
    Synonyms: abrogate, annul, cancel, dissolve, nullify, repeal, revoke
    Antonyms: establish, found
    Slavery was abolished in the nineteenth century.
    • 2002, William Schabas, The abolition of the death penalty in international law, Cambridge University Press, title:
      The abolition of the death penalty in international law
  2. (archaic) To put an end to or destroy, as a physical object; to wipe out. [First attested from around 1350 to 1470.][4]
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene:
      And with thy blood abolish so reproachful blot.
    • 1892, Alfred Tennyson, The Marriage of Geraint:
      His quick instinctive hand Caught at the hilt, as to abolish him.


Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Terms derived from Latin “abolēre”

Translations edit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References edit

  1. ^ “abolisshen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2018, retrieved 20 October 2019.
  2. ^ Laurence Urdang (editor), The Random House College Dictionary (Random House, 1984 [1975], →ISBN), page 4
  3. ^ Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], →ISBN), page 4
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abolish”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 6.
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