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Webster 1913 Edition

Abate

A-bate′

(ȧ-bāt′)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Abated
,
p. pr. & vb. n.
Abating
.]
[OF.
abatre
to beat down, F.
abattre
, LL.
abatere
;
ab
or
ad
+
batere
,
battere
(popular form for L.
batuere
to beat). Cf.
Bate
,
Batter
.]
1.
To beat down; to overthrow.
[Obs.]
The King of Scots . . . sore
abated
the walls.
Edw. Hall.
2.
To bring down or reduce from a higher to a lower state, number, or degree; to lessen; to diminish; to contract; to moderate; to cut short;
as, to
abate
a demand; to
abate
pride, zeal, hope.
His eye was not dim, nor his natural force
abated
.
Deut. xxxiv. 7.
3.
To deduct; to omit;
as, to
abate
something from a price
.
Nine thousand parishes,
abating
the odd hundreds.
Fuller.
4.
To blunt.
[Obs.]
To
abate
the edge of envy.
Bacon.
5.
To reduce in estimation; to deprive.
[Obs.]
She hath
abated
me of half my train.
Shakespeare
6.
(Law)
(a)
To bring entirely down or put an end to; to do away with;
as, to
abate
a nuisance, to
abate
a writ
.
(b)
(Eng. Law)
To diminish; to reduce. Legacies are liable to be abated entirely or in proportion, upon a deficiency of assets.
To abate a tax
,
to remit it either wholly or in part.

A-bate′

(ȧ-bāt′)
,
Verb.
I.
[See
Abate
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
To decrease, or become less in strength or violence;
as, pain
abates
, a storm
abates
.
The fury of Glengarry . . . rapidly
abated
.
Macaulay.
2.
To be defeated, or come to naught; to fall through; to fail;
as, a writ
abates
.
To abate into a freehold
,
To abate in lands
(Law)
,
to enter into a freehold after the death of the last possessor, and before the heir takes possession. See
Abatement
, 4.
Syn. – To subside; decrease; intermit; decline; diminish; lessen.
– To
Abate
,
Subside
. These words, as here compared, imply a coming down from some previously raised or excited state. Abate expresses this in respect to degrees, and implies a diminution of force or of intensity; as, the storm abates, the cold abates, the force of the wind abates; or, the wind abates, a fever abates. Subside (to settle down) has reference to a previous state of agitation or commotion; as, the waves subside after a storm, the wind subsides into a calm. When the words are used figuratively, the same distinction should be observed. If we conceive of a thing as having different degrees of intensity or strength, the word to be used is abate. Thus we say, a man’s anger abates, the ardor of one's love abates, “Winter's rage abates”. But if the image be that of a sinking down into quiet from preceding excitement or commotion, the word to be used is subside; as, the tumult of the people subsides, the public mind subsided into a calm. The same is the case with those emotions which are tumultuous in their nature; as, his passion subsides, his joy quickly subsided, his grief subsided into a pleasing melancholy. Yet if, in such cases, we were thinking of the degree of violence of the emotion, we might use abate; as, his joy will abate in the progress of time; and so in other instances.

A-bate′

(ȧ-bāt′)
,
Noun.
Abatement.
[Obs.]
Sir T. Browne.

Webster 1828 Edition

Abate

ABA'TE

,
Verb.
T.
[Heb. Ch., to beat. The Saxon has the participle gebatod, abated. The prefix is sunk to a in abate, and lost in beat. See Class Bd. No. 23, 33.]
1.
To beat down; to pull down; to destroy in any manner; as to abate a nuisance.
2.
To lessen; to diminish; to moderate; as to abate zeal; to abate pride; to abate a demand; to abate courage.
3.
To lessen; to mitigate; as to abate pain or sorrow.
4.
To overthrow; to cause to fail; to frustrate by judicial sentence; as to abate a writ.
5.
To deject; to depress; as to abate the soul. Obs.
6.
To deduct;
Nothing to add and nothing to abate.
7.
To cause to fail; to annul. By the English law, a legacy to a charity is abated by a deficiency of assets.
8.
In Conneticut, to remit, as to abate a tax.

ABA'TE

,
Verb.
I.
To decrease, or become less in strength or violence; as pain abates; a storm abates.
2.
To fail; to be defeated, or come to naught; as a writ abates. By the civil law a legacy to a charity does not abate by deficiency of assets.
3.
In law, to enter into a freehold after the death of the last occupant, and before the heir or devisee takes possession.
4.
In horsemanship, to perform well a downward motion. A horse is said to abate, or take down his curvets, when, working upon curvets, he puts both his hind legs to the ground at once, and observes the same exactness in all the times.

Definition 2024

Abate

Abate

See also: abate, abaté, abâte, abatē, and abatė

Latin

Noun

Abate

  1. vocative singular of Abatos

abate

abate

See also: Abate, abaté, abâte, abatē, and abatė

English

Verb

abate ‎(third-person singular simple present abates, present participle abating, simple past and past participle abated)

  1. (transitive, obsolete outside law) To put an end to; to cause to cease. [attested since about 1150 to 1350][1]
    to abate a nuisance
  2. (intransitive) To become null and void. [attested since the late 15th century][1]
    The writ has abated.
  3. (transitive, law) To nullify; make void. [attested since the late 15th century][1]
    to abate a writ
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To humble; to lower in status; to bring someone down physically or mentally. [attested from around 1150 to 1350 until the mid 1600s][1]
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
      The hyer that they were in this present lyf, the moore shulle they be abated and defouled in helle.
  5. (intransitive, obsolete) To be humbled; to be brought down physically or mentally. [attested from around 1150 to 1350 until the mid 1600s][1]
  6. (transitive, obsolete) To curtail; to deprive. [attested from around 1350 to 1470 until the mid 1800s][1]
    Order restrictions and prohibitions to abate an emergency situation.
  7. (transitive) To reduce in amount, size, or value. [attested since 1325][2][1]
    Legacies are liable to be abated entirely or in proportion, upon a deficiency of assets.
  8. (intransitive) To decrease in size, value, or amount. [attested since 1325][2]
  9. (transitive) To moderate; to lessen in force, intensity, to subside. [attested since around 1150 to 1350][1]
  10. (intransitive) To decrease in intensity or force; to subside. [attested since around 1150 to 1350][1]
  11. (transitive) To deduct or omit. [attested since around 1350 to 1470][1]
    We will abate this price from the total.
    • 1845, Thomas Fuller, The Church History of Britain, Volume 3, page 100:
      Allowing nine thousand parishes (abating the odd hundreds) in England and Wales […]
  12. (transitive) To bar or except. [attested since the late 1500s][1]
  13. (transitive) To cut away or hammer down, in such a way as to leave a figure in relief, as a sculpture, or in metalwork.
  14. (transitive, obsolete) To dull the edge or point of; to blunt. [attested from the mid 1500s till the late 1600s][1]
  15. (transitive, archaic) To destroy, or level to the ground. [attested since around 1350 to 1470][1]
    • 1542, Edward Hall, The Union of the Noble and Illustre Famelies of Lancastre and York:
      The kynge of Scottes planted his siege before the castell of Norham, and sore abated the walls.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Noun

abate ‎(plural abates) (obsolete)

  1. Abatement. [from around 1400 until the late 1600s][1]

Etymology 2

From Anglo-Norman abatre, an alteration of enbatre, from Old French en + batre ‎(“to beat”).[2]

Verb

abate ‎(third-person singular simple present abates, present participle abating, simple past and past participle abated)

  1. (intransitive, law) To enter a tenement without permission after the owner has died and before the heir takes possession. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][1]

Etymology 3

From Italian abate, from Latin abbās, abbātis, from Ancient Greek ἀββᾶς ‎(abbâs), from Aramaic אבא ‎(’abbā, “father”).

Alternative forms

Noun

abate ‎(plural abates)

  1. An Italian abbot, or other member of the clergy. [First attested in the early 18th century.][1]

References

  • abate at OneLook Dictionary Search
  • abate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Lesley Brown (editor), The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2003 [1933], ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7), page 2
  2. 1 2 3 Elliott K. Dobbie, C. William Dunmore, Robert K. Barnhart, et al. (editors), Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2004 [1998], ISBN 0550142304), page 2

Italian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin abbātem, accusative form of abbās, from Ancient Greek ἀββᾶς ‎(abbâs), from Aramaic אבא ‎(’abbā, “father”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /aˈba.te/, [äˈbäːt̪e̞]
  • Hyphenation: a‧bà‧te

Noun

abate m ‎(plural abati)

  1. abbot
    • 1472, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Purgatorio, Bompiani (2001), Canto XVIII, p. 272 vv. 118-120:
      «Io fui abate in San Zeno a Verona ¶ sotto lo 'mperio del buon Barbarossa, ¶ di cui dolente ancor Milan ragiona.»
      «I was San Zeno's abbot at Verona ¶ under the empire of good Barbarossa ¶ of whom still sorrowing Milan holds discourse.»

Related terms

Anagrams

Latvian

Abate

Etymology

From abats ‎(“abbott”) +‎ -e ‎(“fem.”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [abatɛ]

Noun

abate f (5th declension, masculine form: abats)

  1. abbess (the female superior of a Catholic abbey or nunnery)
    abate ir katoļu sieviešu klostera priekšniece‎ ― an abbess is the leader of a Catholic nunnery (lit. women's monastery)
    abates ievēlēšana notiek bīskapa vai viņa pilnvarotā pārstāvja klātbūtnē‎ ― the selection of an abbess occurs in the presence of a bishop or of his authorized representative

Declension

Related terms

Lithuanian

Pronunciation 1

  • IPA(key): [ɐb.ɐˈtʲɛ]

Noun

abatè m, f

  1. locative singular form of abatas.
  2. instrumental singular form of abatė.

Pronunciation 2

  • IPA(key): [ɐbˈaː.tʲɛ]

Noun

abãte m, f

  1. vocative singular form of abatas.
  2. vocative singular form of abatė.

Novial

Etymology

From Italian abate, from Latin abbās, abbātis, from Ancient Greek ἀββᾶς ‎(abbâs), from Aramaic אבא ‎(’abbā, “father”).

Noun

abate ‎(plural abates)

  1. abbot or abbess

Related terms

Portuguese

Verb

abate

  1. third-person singular present indicative of abater
  2. second-person singular imperative of abater

Romanian

Etymology 1

From Vulgar Latin *abbatere, present active infinitive of *abbatō, *abbatuō, from Latin battuō.

Verb

a abate ‎(third-person singular present abate, past participle abătut) 3rd conj.

  1. to stray (often figuratively in a moral sense), derogate, deviate, divert from, digress
  2. to change paths, swerve from, wander from
  3. (reflexive) to stop (going a certain way)
  4. to dissuade
  5. to knock down
Conjugation
Synonyms
Related terms

Etymology 2

Borrowing from Italian abate, from Latin abbās, abbātis, from Ancient Greek ἀββᾶς ‎(abbâs), from Aramaic אבא ‎(’abbā, “father”).

Noun

abate m ‎(plural abați)

  1. abbot

Spanish

Verb

abate

  1. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present indicative form of abatir.
  2. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of abatir.

Etymology

From Middle English abaten, a borrowing from Old French abatre ‎(“to beat down”) (possibly via Middle French), from Late Latin abbatto, from ab- ‎(“away”) + batto, from Latin battuere ‎(“to beat”). Cognate to modern French abattre.

Pronunciation

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