abandonment

American  

[uh-ban-duhn-muhnt] / əˈbæn dən mənt /

noun

1. an act or instance of leaving a person or thing permanently and completely.

   He struggles to deal with his abandonment by his wife, and now having to care for their infant alone.

2. an act or instance of permanently setting aside a principle, discontinuing an activity, etc..

   I believe in the struggle for radical social change, but it must be accompanied by an abandonment of the notion that the end justifies the means.

3. an act or instance of giving up control of something, or of yielding to one’s impulses or to an external or spiritual force.

   No psychiatric diagnosis quite captures Hitler’s boundless will to lead, his self-deception, and his utter abandonment to evil.

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Other Word Forms

• nonabandonment noun

Etymology

Origin of abandonment

abandon ( def. ) + -ment ( def. )

Example Sentences

They also pose severe hazards to people in the region through accidental release or abandonment.

From The Wall Street Journal

“I told them abandonment wasn’t exactly correct. When I explained that you had celebrated our departure with a few toasts they crossed out ‘abandonment’ and wrote down ‘gross negligence.’

From Literature

Pezeshkian meanwhile said the success of diplomacy depended on the "goodwill of the parties involved and the abandonment of belligerent and threatening actions in the region," his office said.

From Barron's

Mali's security crisis has led to the "abandonment of destinations, the closure of some tourism establishments and destruction of others, and the dismissal or temporary layoff of employees", according to the Mali Tourism website.

From Barron's

The problem is attributed to a combination of factors, including gaps in sterilisation and vaccination programmes, rubbish piling up, abandonment of animals, shrinking forest habitats and uneven enforcement of laws.

From BBC

Related Words

• renunciation