abandon

[ uh-ban-duhn ]

/ əˈbæn dən /

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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.

Nearby words

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

SYNONYMS FOR abandon

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

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ANTONYMS FOR abandon

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

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Related forms

a·ban·don·a·ble, adjectivea·ban·don·er, nouna·ban·don·ment, nounnon·a·ban·don·ment, noun

un·a·ban·don·ing, adjective

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.

abandon

[ uh-ban-duhn ]

/ əˈbæn dən /

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.

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à l'abandon

[ a la-bahn-dawn ]

/ a la bɑ̃ˈdɔ̃ /

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

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|DAILY BEAST
The pocket in the hills in which they lay was surely a safe and comfortable place, and one need be in no hurry to abandon it.
The Great Sioux Trail|Joseph Altsheler
But he kept on as he began, and by a common impulse the boys made up their minds to abandon the whole affair to him.
A Boy's Town|W. D. Howells
His story was, that he persuaded the Indians to abandon the British; that in the end we would ruin them, &c.
Narrative of the Suffering and Defeat of the North-Western Army, Under General Winchester|William Atherton
It is to the first-born, whether a boy or a girl, that the inheritance is transmitted, and he or she is forbidden to abandon it.
The Truth About Woman|C. Gasquoine Hartley
The words fire, energy, abandon, found in him unprecedented meanings.
Complete Prose Works|Walt Whitman

British Dictionary definitions for abandon

abandon

/ (əˈbændən) /

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

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.

abandon

"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.

abandon

verb (used with object)

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Nearby words

Origin of abandon

Synonym study

abandon

noun

Origin of abandon

à l'abandon

adverb French.

Origin of à l'abandon

Examples from the Web for abandon

abandon

verb (tr)

noun

Word Origin for abandon

abandon

abandon