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Webster 1913 Edition

Abandon

A-ban′don

(ȧ-băn′dŭn)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Abandoned
(-dŭnd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Abandoning
.]
[OF.
abandoner
, F.
abandonner
;
a
(L.
ad
) +
bandon
permission, authority, LL.
bandum
,
bannum
, public proclamation, interdiction,
bannire
to proclaim, summon: of Germanic origin; cf. Goth.
bandwjan
to show by signs, to designate OHG.
ban
proclamation. The word meant to proclaim, put under a ban, put under control; hence, as in OE., to compel, subject, or to leave in the control of another, and hence, to give up. See
Ban
.]
1.
To cast or drive out; to banish; to expel; to reject.
[Obs.]
That he might . . .
abandon
them from him.
Udall.
Being all this time
abandoned
from your bed.
Shakespeare
2.
To give up absolutely; to forsake entirely ; to renounce utterly; to relinquish all connection with or concern on; to desert, as a person to whom one owes allegiance or fidelity; to quit; to surrender.
Hope was overthrown, yet could not be
abandoned
.
I. Taylor.
3.
Reflexively: To give (one’s self) up without attempt at self-control; to yield (one's self) unrestrainedly; – often in a bad sense.
He
abandoned
himself . . . to his favorite vice.
Macaulay.
4.
(Mar. Law)
To relinquish all claim to; – used when an insured person gives up to underwriters all claim to the property covered by a policy, which may remain after loss or damage by a peril insured against.
Syn. – To give up; yield; forego; cede; surrender; resign; abdicate; quit; relinquish; renounce; desert; forsake; leave; retire; withdraw from.
–
To Abandon
,
Desert
,
Forsake
. These words agree in representing a person as giving up or leaving some object, but differ as to the mode of doing it. The distinctive sense of abandon is that of giving up a thing absolutely and finally; as, to abandon one's friends, places, opinions, good or evil habits, a hopeless enterprise, a shipwrecked vessel. Abandon is more widely applicable than forsake or desert. The Latin original of desert appears to have been originally applied to the case of deserters from military service. Hence, the verb, when used of
persons
in the active voice, has usually or always a bad sense, implying some breach of fidelity, honor, etc., the leaving of something which the person should rightfully stand by and support; as, to
desert
one's colors, to
desert
one's post, to
desert
one's principles or duty. When used in the passive, the sense is not necessarily bad; as, the fields were
deserted
, a
deserted
village,
deserted
halls.
Forsake
implies the breaking off of previous habit, association, personal connection, or that the thing left had been familiar or frequented; as, to forsake old friends, to
forsake
the paths of rectitude, the blood
forsook
his cheeks. It may be used either in a good or in a bad sense.

A-ban′don

,
Noun.
[F.
abandon
. fr.
abandonner
. See
Abandon
,
Verb.
]
Abandonment; relinquishment.
[Obs.]
‖

Aˊbanˊdon′

(ȧˊbäNˊdôN′)
,
Noun.
[F. See
Abandon
.]
A complete giving up to natural impulses; freedom from artificial constraint; careless freedom or ease.

Webster 1828 Edition

Abandon

ABAN'DON

,
Verb.
T.
[Fr. abandonner; Sp. and Port. abandonar; It. abbandonare; said to be from ban, and donner, to give over to the ban or proscription; or from a or ab and bandum, a flag or ensign.]
1.
To forsake entirely; as to abandon a hopeless enterprize.
Wo to that generation by which the testimony of God shall be abandoned.
2.
To renounce and forsake; to leave with a view never to return; to desert as lost or desperate; as to abandon a country; to abandon a cause or party.
3.
To give up or resign without control, as when a person yields himself, without restraint, to a propensity; as to abandon one's self to intemperance. Abandoned over and abandoned of are obsolete.
4.
To resign; to yield, relinquish, or give over entirely.
Verus abandoned the cares of empire to his wiser colleague.
5.
In commerce, to relinquish to insurers all claim to a ship or goods insured, as a preliminary towards recovering for a total loss.

ABAN'DON

,
Noun.
One who totally forsakes or deserts.
2.
A relinquishment. [not used.]

Definition 2024

Abandon

Abandon

See also: abandon and a bandon

German

Noun

Abandon m ‎(genitive Abandons, plural Abandons)

  1. (law) abandonment

abandon

abandon

See also: Abandon and a bandon

English

Verb

abandon ‎(third-person singular simple present abandons, present participle abandoning, simple past and past participle abandoned)

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To subdue; to take control of. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the mid 16th century.][1]
  2. (transitive) To give up control of, to surrender or to give oneself over, or to yield to one's emotions. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470)][1]
    • (Can we date this quote?), Macaulay, (Please provide the title of the work):
      He abandoned himself […] to his favourite vice.
  3. (transitive) To desist in doing, practicing, following, holding, or adhering to; to turn away from; to permit to lapse; to renounce; to discontinue. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470)][1]
    • 2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19:
      In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […]   The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra–wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.
  4. (transitive) To leave behind; to desert as in a ship or a position, typically in response to overwhelming odds or impending dangers; to forsake, in spite of a duty or responsibility. [First attested in the late 15th century.][1]
    • (Can we date this quote?), I. Taylor, (Please provide the title of the work):
      Hope was overthrown, yet could not be abandoned.
    Many baby girls have been abandoned on the streets of Beijing.‎
  5. (transitive, obsolete) To cast out; to banish; to expel; to reject. [Attested from the mid 16th century until the mid 17th century.][1]
    • 1594, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, act I, scene ii:
      Being all this time abandoned from your bed.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Udall, (Please provide the title of the work):
      that he might […] abandon them from him
  6. (transitive) To no longer exercise a right, title, or interest, especially with no interest of reclaiming it again; to yield; to relinquish. [First attested in the mid 18th century.][1]
  7. (transitive) To surrender to the insurer (an insured item), so as to claim a total loss.
Conjugation
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

abandon ‎(plural abandons)

  1. A yielding to natural impulses or inhibitions; freedom from artificial constraint, with loss of appreciation of consequences. [Early 19th century.][1][3]
    • 1954, Gore Vidal, Messiah:
      I envy those chroniclers who assert with reckless but sincere abandon: 'I was there. I saw it happen. It happened thus.'
    • 2007 November 4, David M. Halbfinger, “The City That Never Sleeps, Comatose”, in The New York Times:
      They needed to have an abandon in their performance that you just can’t get out of people in the middle of the night when they’re barefoot.
  2. (obsolete) abandonment; relinquishment.
Synonyms
Translations

Adverb

abandon ‎(comparative more abandon, superlative most abandon)

  1. (obsolete, not comparable) Freely; entirely.
    • 1330, Arthour and Merlin:
      His ribbes and scholder fel adoun,/Men might se the liver abandoun.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lesley Brown (editor), The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2003 [1933], ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7), page 2
  2. ↑ Christine A. Lindberg (editor), The Oxford College Dictionary, 2nd edition (Spark Publishing, 2007 [2002], ISBN 978-1-4114-0500-4), page 1
  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.

French

Pronunciation

  • (FR) IPA(key): /a.bã.dõ/
  • abandon (France, Paris) IPA(key): [a.bã.dõ]
  • Rhymes: -dõ

Noun

abandon m ‎(plural abandons)

  1. surrender
  2. abandonment
  3. (uncountable) complete neglect

Derived terms

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowing from French abandon.

Noun

abandon n ‎(plural abandonuri)

  1. abandonment
  2. renouncement

Declension

Related terms

Etymology

Pronunciation

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