abolish

English

Etymology

From Middle English abolisshen, from Middle French abolir (“to abolish”), from Latin abolēre (“destroy, cause to die out”), present active infinitive of aboleō (“destroy, abolish”), abolesco (“to wither, to decay”),[1] from ab (“from, away from”) + oleō (“to grow”).[2]

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

Verb

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

  1. To end a law, system, institution, custom or practice. [First attested from around 1350 to 1470.][3]
    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.][3]
    • (Can we date this quote?), Edmund Spenser, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
      And with thy blood abolish so reproachful blot.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Alfred Tennyson, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
      His quick instinctive hand Caught at the hilt, as to abolish him.

Conjugation
Conjugation of abolish
infinitive (to) abolish
present tense past tense
1st person singular abolish abolished
2nd person singular abolish, abolishest*
3rd person singular abolishes, abolisheth*
plural abolish
subjunctive abolish
imperative abolish —
participles abolishing abolished
* Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms

Antonyms
  • (to end a law, system, institution, custom or practice): establish, found

Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

References
  1. Laurence Urdang (editor), The Random House College Dictionary (Random House, 1984 [1975], →ISBN), page 4
  2. Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], →ISBN), page 4
  3. “abolish” in Lesley Brown, editor, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 6.
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