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Abolish

 - 4 dictionary results

a⋅bol⋅ish

  [uh-bol-ish]
Use Abolish in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
to do away with; put an end to; annul; make void: to abolish slavery.
Origin:
1425–75; late ME < MF aboliss-, long s. of abolir < L abolēre to destroy, efface, put an end to; change of conjugation perh. by assoc. with L abolitiō abolition

Related forms:
a⋅bol⋅ish⋅a⋅ble, adjective
a⋅bol⋅ish⋅er, noun
a⋅bol⋅ish⋅ment, noun

Synonyms:
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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Abolish
a·bol·ish   (ə-bŏl'ĭsh)   
tr.v.   a·bol·ished, a·bol·ish·ing, a·bol·ish·es

  1. To do away with; annul.

  2. To destroy completely.


[Middle English abolisshen, from Old French abolir, aboliss-, from Latin abolēre; see al-2 in Indo-European roots.]
a·bol'ish·a·ble adj., a·bol'ish·er n., a·bol'ish·ment n.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to get rid of: voted to abolish the tax; exterminated the cockroaches in the house; criticism that extinguished my enthusiasm; policies that attempt to extirpate drug abuse; scientists working to eradicate deadly diseases; a magnet that obliterated the data on the floppy disk.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

abolish 
1459, 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 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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: abol·ish
Function: transitive verb
: to end the observance or effect of : ANNUL
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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