Nearby Words
verb (used with object)
to do away with; put an end to; annul; make void: to abolish slavery.
Origin:
1425–75; late Middle English < Middle French aboliss-, long stem of abolir < Latin abolēre to destroy, efface, put an end to; change of conjugation perhaps by association with Latin abolitiō abolition
1425–75; late Middle English < Middle French aboliss-, long stem of abolir < Latin abolēre to destroy, efface, put an end to; change of conjugation perhaps by association with Latin abolitiō abolition
Related forms
a·bol·ish·a·ble, adjective
a·bol·ish·er, noun
a·bol·ish·ment, noun
un·a·bol·ish·a·ble, adjective
un·a·bol·ished, adjective
EXPANDwell-a·bol·ished, adjective
COLLAPSESynonyms
suppress, nullify, cancel; annihilate, obliterate, extinguish; exterminate, extirpate, eliminate. Abolish, eradicate, stamp out mean to do away completely with something. To abolish is to cause to cease, often by a summary order: to abolish a requirement. Stamp out implies forcibly making an end to something considered undesirable or harmful: to stamp out the opium traffic. Eradicate (literally, to tear out by the roots), a formal word, suggests extirpation, leaving no vestige or trace: to eradicate all use of child labor.
suppress, nullify, cancel; annihilate, obliterate, extinguish; exterminate, extirpate, eliminate. Abolish, eradicate, stamp out mean to do away completely with something. To abolish is to cause to cease, often by a summary order: to abolish a requirement. Stamp out implies forcibly making an end to something considered undesirable or harmful: to stamp out the opium traffic. Eradicate (literally, to tear out by the roots), a formal word, suggests extirpation, leaving no vestige or trace: to eradicate all use of child labor.
Antonyms
establish.
establish.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Abolish
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is absquatulate. Does it mean:
| to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle. |
| to flee; abscond: |
Example Sentences
- The process of abolishing the death penalty moved forward at an unusually fast pace.
- In 1953 a plan to abolish the city of Miami failed by only 980 votes.
- Several states have attempted but failed to abolish the law.
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
abolish
mid-15c., from M.Fr. aboliss-, prp. stem of abolir "to abolish," from L. abolescere "to die out, decay little by little," inceptive of L. abolere "to retard the growth of," from ab- "from" + adolere "to grow," from PIE *ol-eye-, causative of base *al- "to grow, nourish" (see
EXPAND old). Tucker writes that there has been a confusion of forms in L., based on similar roots, one meaning "to grow," the other "to destroy." Application to persons and concrete objects has long been obsolete.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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