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
-
(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.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers died in the conflict that followed, but the Union’s victory ensured reunification and slavery’s abolition nationwide.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
This has all the technical detail required to formalise the abolition of NHS England and the move of its functions to the Department of Health and Social Care.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
The business model hasn’t been applied since the abolition of Denmark’s Sound Toll in 1857, when international powers in the pocket of mercantile interests paid off the Kingdom to provide free access.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
Oli's political career stretches nearly six decades, a period that saw a decade-long civil war and Nepal's 2008 abolition of its monarchy.
From Barron's • Feb. 16, 2026
He wanted to share a marriage of equals, a relationship that would not interfere with her work on abolition and women’s rights.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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.
