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.

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

Related Words for abandoning

quit, dump, ditch, discontinue, stop, leave, withdraw, vacate, discard, surrender, desert, renounce, reject, forsake, screw, abdicate, drop, yield, duck, dust

Examples from the Web for abandoning

Contemporary Examples of abandoning

Secondly, as GBCE reports, it puts the kids themselves at a higher risk of dropping out of school, or abandoning it all together.
The Radio Battle to Educate Ebola’s Kids
Abby Haglage
December 11, 2014
She grew up believing her biological mother had died after abandoning her as a baby.
How One Young Woman Escaped Childhood Abuse and a Forced Marriage
Moral Courage
October 8, 2014
But having your sound influenced by a genre and abandoning your sound completely are two different things.
Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’ Is Disappointing
Kevin Fallon
August 19, 2014
The prime minister also ordered that the general and his immediate subordinates face criminal charges for abandoning their posts.
The Monster of Mosul: How a Sadistic General Helped ISIS Win
Andrew Slater
June 19, 2014
Online there are pictures of Iraqi soldiers shedding their uniforms and abandoning their posts.
Mosul's Civilization and Its Discontents
Michael Carson
June 14, 2014

Historical Examples of abandoning

He had been bothered by no fine qualms about abandoning herself.
Dust
Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
So she made no objection to his abandoning his desk in the house of Dunbar, Dunbar, and Balderby.
Henry Dunbar
M. E. Braddon
"It's never a day for abandoning what has been dear to one," replied Florence.
The Mystery of Murray Davenport
Robert Neilson Stephens
They had no thought of abandoning any of their pursuits or pleasures, be they never so deplorable.
The Law-Breakers
Ridgwell Cullum
For a moment that seemed like treachery, like an abandoning of Hermione.
A Spirit in Prison
Robert Hichens

British Dictionary definitions for abandoning

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 abandoning

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.