abandon

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To give up or relinquish control of, to surrender or to give oneself over, or to yield to one's emotions.
2. (transitive) To desist in doing, practicing, following, holding, or adhering to; to turn away from; to permit to lapse; to renounce; to discontinue.
3. (transitive) To leave behind; to desert, as in a ship, a position, or a person, typically in response to overwhelming odds or impending dangers; to forsake, in spite of a duty or responsibility.
4. (obsolete, transitive) To subdue; to take control of.
5. (obsolete, transitive) To cast out; to banish; to expel; to reject.
6. (transitive) To no longer exercise a right, title, or interest, especially with no interest of reclaiming it again; to yield; to relinquish.
7. (transitive) To surrender to the insurer (an insured item), so as to claim a total loss.

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A yielding to natural impulses or inhibitions; freedom from artificial constraint, with loss of appreciation of consequences. (Now especially in the phrase with abandon.)
2. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Abandonment; relinquishment.

Synonyms

leave

give up

forsake

desert

🏜️

quit

leave behind

relinquish

renounce

discard

throw away

reject

neglect

drop

throw

throw out

cast away

resign

cast off

waive

let go

expel

ditch

depart

vacate

surrender

castaway

leave alone

jettison

let

dump

yield

omit

desolate

abnegate

give

allow

ignore

repeal

forgo

release

fail

abandonment

fire

🔥

repudiate

distinguish

dismiss

back down

discontinue

abdicate

empty

Translations

abandonner

abandonar

abbandonare

verlassen

abandonar

εγκαταλείπω

abandonar

aufgeben

lasciare

laisser

quitter

dejar

renunciar

délaisser

renoncer

Pronounced as (IPA)

/əˈbæn.dən/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: abandounen

Cognate with English: ban

Inherited from Middle English: abandoun

In summary

From Middle English abandounen, from Old French abandoner, formed from a (“at, to”) + bandon (“jurisdiction, control”), from Late Latin bannum (“proclamation”), bannus, bandum, from Frankish *ban, *bann, from Proto-Germanic *bannaną (“to proclaim, command”) (whence English ban), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to speak”). See also ban, banal.
Displaced Middle English forleten (“to abandon”), from Old English forlǣtan, anforlǣtan; see forlet; and Middle English forleven (“to leave behind, abandon”), from Old English forlǣfan; see forleave.