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Synonyms
abolish - 5 dictionary results
a⋅bol⋅ish
[uh-bol-ish] 
–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
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.
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. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To abolish
| a·bol·ish (ə-bŏl'ĭsh) tr.v. a·bol·ished, a·bol·ish·ing, a·bol·ish·es
[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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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Abolish
A*bol"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abolished; p. pr. & vb. n. Abolishing.] [F. abolir, L. abolere, aboletum; ab + olere to grow. Cf. Finish.]1. To do away with wholly; to annul; to make void; -- said of laws, customs, institutions, governments, etc.; as, to abolish slavery, to abolish folly. 2. To put an end to, or destroy, as a physical objects; to wipe out. [Archaic] And with thy blood abolish so reproachful blot. --Spenser. His quick instinctive hand Caught at the hilt, as to abolish him. --Tennyson. Syn: To Abolish, Repeal, Abrogate, Revoke, Annul, Nullify, Cancel. Usage: These words have in common the idea of setting aside by some overruling act. Abolish applies particularly to things of a permanent nature, such as institutions, usages, customs, etc.; as, to abolish monopolies, serfdom, slavery. Repeal describes the act by which the legislature of a state sets aside a law which it had previously enacted. Abrogate was originally applied to the repeal of a law by the Roman people; and hence, when the power of making laws was usurped by the emperors, the term was applied to their act of setting aside the laws. Thus it came to express that act by which a sovereign or an executive government sets aside laws, ordinances, regulations, treaties, conventions, etc. Revoke denotes the act of recalling some previous grant which conferred, privilege, etc.; as, to revoke a decree, to revoke a power of attorney, a promise, etc. Thus, also, we speak of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Annul is used in a more general sense, denoting simply to make void; as, to annul a contract, to annul an agreement. Nullify is an old word revived in this country, and applied to the setting of things aside either by force or by total disregard; as, to nullify an act of Congress. Cancel is to strike out or annul, by a deliberate exercise of power, something which has operative force.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : abolish
Spanish:
abolir,
German:
abschaffen,
Japanese:
廃止する
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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Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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