abandon

[uh-ban-duhn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR abandon ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert: to abandon one's farm; to abandon a child; to abandon a sinking ship.

to give up; discontinue; withdraw from: to abandon a research project; to abandon hopes for a stage career.

to give up the control of: to abandon a city to an enemy army.

to yield (oneself) without restraint or moderation; give (oneself) over to natural impulses, usually without self-control: to abandon oneself to grief.

Law. to cast away, leave, or desert, as property or a child.

Insurance. to relinquish (insured property) to the underwriter in case of partial loss, thus enabling the insured to claim a total loss.

Obsolete. to banish.

Origin of abandon

1325–75; Middle English abando(u)nen < Middle French abandoner for Old French (mettre) a bandon (put) under (someone's) jurisdiction, equivalent to a at, to (< Latin ad; see ad-) + bandon < Germanic *band; see bond¹

Related formsa·ban·don·a·ble, adjectivea·ban·don·er, nouna·ban·don·ment, nounnon·a·ban·don·ment, nounun·a·ban·don·ing, adjective

Synonyms for abandon

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR abandon ON THESAURUS.COM

3. yield, surrender, resign, waive, abdicate.

Synonym study

1. See desert². 2. Abandon, relinquish, renounce mean to give up all concern in something. Abandon means to give up or discontinue any further interest in something because of discouragement, weariness, distaste, or the like: to abandon one's efforts. Relinquish implies being or feeling compelled to give up something one would prefer to keep: to relinquish a long-cherished desire. Renounce implies making (and perhaps formally stating) a voluntary decision to give something up: to renounce worldly pleasures.

Antonyms for abandon

1. keep. 2. continue; begin, start. 3. retain.

abandon

[uh-ban-duhn]

noun

a complete surrender to natural impulses without restraint or moderation; freedom from inhibition or conventionality: to dance with reckless abandon.

Origin of abandon

1815–25; < French, noun derivative of abandonner to abandon¹

Antonyms for abandon

restraint, constraint.

à l'abandon

[a la-bahn-dawn]

adverb French.

carelessly; recklessly.

Origin of à l'abandon

literally, with abandon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for abandon

spontaneity, quit, dump, ditch, discontinue, stop, leave, withdraw, vacate, discard, surrender, desert, renounce, reject, forsake, freedom, thoughtlessness, recklessness, licentiousness, impulse

Examples from the Web for abandon

Contemporary Examples of abandon

Will he go for the schoolteacher and abandon the family, leaving behind his smashing dinner suits?
What Downton’s Fashion Really Means
Katie Baker
January 2, 2015
After the captain made the call to abandon ship, 150 people were able to escape on lifeboats lowered by electronic arms.
‘We’re Going to Die’: Survivors Recount Greek Ferry Fire Horror
Barbie Latza Nadeau
December 29, 2014
No one, of course, was “repressing” Klaus or preventing him from “expressing his views,” something he does with abandon.
Vaclav Klaus, Libertarian Hero, Has His Wings Clipped by Cato Institute
James Kirchick
December 22, 2014
The show started filming in Israel over the summer, but was forced to abandon the location as political tensions escalated.
After The Fall: Introducing The Anti-Villain
Rich Goldstein
December 21, 2014
Two years into an Arctic expedition, they were forced to abandon ship a thousand miles north of Siberia.
The Best Nonfiction Books of 2014
William O’Connor
December 14, 2014

Historical Examples of abandon

The men laid down their loads, and sprawled about in abandon.
The Leopard Woman
Stewart Edward White
It seemed to her heart-breaking that Martin must be forced to abandon the only things for which he cared.
Dust
Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
Abandon her not until you leave her in the habitations of civilized men.
The Last of the Mohicans
James Fenimore Cooper
But doth not Horatio doat on me, and may he not in despair break his heart if I abandon him?
Joseph Andrews Vol. 1
Henry Fielding
It was about the 24th or 25th of January, that they resolved to abandon the ship.
The Field of Ice
Jules Verne

British Dictionary definitions for abandon

abandon

verb (tr)

to forsake completely; desert; leave behindto abandon a baby; drivers had to abandon their cars

abandon ship the order given to the crew of a ship that is about to sink to take to the lifeboats

to give up completelyto abandon a habit; to abandon hope

to yield control of or concern in; relinquishto abandon office

to give up (something begun) before completionto abandon a job; the game was abandoned

to surrender (oneself) to emotion without restraint

to give (insured property that has suffered partial loss or damage) to the insurers in order that a claim for a total loss may be made

noun

freedom from inhibitions, restraint, concern, or worryshe danced with abandon

Derived Formsabandonment, noun

Word Origin for abandon

C14: abandounen (vb), from Old French, from a bandon under one's control, in one's power, from a at, to + bandon control, power

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for abandon

late 14c., "to give up, surrender (oneself or something), give over utterly; to yield (oneself) utterly (to religion, fornication, etc.)," from Old French abandoner (12c.), from adverbial phrase à bandon "at will, at discretion," from à "at, to" (see ad-) + bandon "power, jurisdiction," from Latin bannum, "proclamation," from a Frankish word related to ban (v.).

Mettre sa forest à bandon was a feudal law phrase in the 13th cent. = mettre sa forêt à permission, i.e. to open it freely to any one for pasture or to cut wood in; hence the later sense of giving up one's rights for a time, letting go, leaving, abandoning. [Auguste Brachet, "An Etymological Dictionary of the French Language," transl. G.W. Kitchin, Oxford, 1878]

Etymologically, the word carries a sense of "put someone under someone else's control." Meaning "to give up absolutely" is from late 14c. Related: Abandoned; abandoning.

"a letting loose, surrender to natural impulses," 1822, from a sense in French abandon (see abandon (v.). Borrowed earlier (c.1400) from French in a sense "(someone's) control;" and cf. Middle English adverbial phrase at abandon, i.e. "recklessly," attested from late 14c.