abolition
Americannoun
-
the act of abolishing or the state of being abolished: the abolition of capital punishment;
the abolition of war;
the abolition of capital punishment;
the abolition of unfair taxes.
- Synonyms:
- repeal, revocation, invalidation, nullification, elimination, eradication, annihilation
- Antonyms:
- establishment
-
the legal prohibition of slavery, especially the institutional enslavement of Black people in the U.S.
noun
-
the act of abolishing or the state of being abolished; annulment
-
(often capital) (in British territories) the ending of the slave trade (1807) or the ending of slavery (1833): accomplished after a long campaign led by William Wilberforce
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(often capital) (in the US) the emancipation of the slaves, accomplished by the Emancipation Proclamation issued in 1863 and ratified in 1865
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of abolition
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin abolitiōn- (stem of abolitiō ), equivalent to abolit(us) “effaced, destroyed,” past participle of abolēre “to destroy, efface” + -iōn- noun suffix; see abolish, -ion
Explanation
Abolition is the act of getting rid of something, like the abolition of slavery. One of the greatest moments in the history of the United States was the abolition of slavery: when we ended slavery as an institution. That's a dramatic and important case, but abolition can refer to getting rid of any system, practice, or institution. Sports leagues would love to achieve the abolition of performance-enhancing drugs. Everyone would probably like to see the abolition of rats from all cities. When there's an abolition, something is abolished — it's gone.
Vocabulary lists containing abolition
American History I
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The American Civil War
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Slavery Abolition Act became British law in 1834, during a century that would see worldwide emancipations thanks to the efforts of enslaved people and abolitionists.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 7, 2025
Giuliana Perrone, an associate professor of history at UC Santa Barbara, is the author of “Nothing More than Freedom: The Failure of Abolition in American Law.”
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 13, 2025
In 1787, two years after Oglethorpe’s death, Sharp and More were among the founders of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 16, 2024
Abolition of the insulation standards has been a top demand of industry, which says the measures are too expensive and put a further damper on the depressed construction industry.
From Reuters • Sep. 24, 2023
For on that day another petition arrived in the House, this one from the Pennsylvania Abolition Society.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
