abandon

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈbæn.dən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English abandounen, borrowed from Old French abandoner (“to surrender, release, give freely”),^[2][3][4] from the phrase à bandon, at will, under one's control,^[3][2] from à, at, to (Latin ad), and bandon, power, jurisdiction, of Frankish origin, related to ban.^[2][3][4] Etymologically the word means to put something under someone else's control.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To reduce under control, subjugate: 1375 in the OED, now obsolete;^[5][6] about 1390 in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in Barnhart;^[2] the late 14th century in Etymonline, to give up absolutely.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The earliest appearance in English is as an adverb, abandoun, under one's control, unrestricted (mid-13th century).^[3][5] To give up to another's control is from about 1386,^[5] and to give oneself up to something, such as an emotion, from 1393.^[5] To leave, desert or forsake someone in need is from the late 15th century.^[3] The noun, freedom from restraint, was reborrowed from French: as a French word in English by 1822, and in English from 1850.^[3][2] Abandoned, immoral, is from 1692.^[2]

Timeline

• mid-13th century – abandoun, under control.^[3]
• 1375 – to subjugate.^[5]
• 1393 – to give oneself up.^[5]
• late 15th century – to desert.^[3]
• 1692 – abandoned, immoral.^[2]
• 1822 – abandon (noun).^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To leave behind or desert, especially in spite of duty or responsibility.
2. To leave a place or thing because of danger: abandon ship.
3. To give up entirely, as a claim, habit or hope.
4. To stop something before it is finished.
5. To give oneself up completely to an emotion.

Noun

1. Complete freedom from inhibition; unrestrained enthusiasm.

Word family

• abandonment
• abandoner
• abandonable
• reabandon
• abandoned
• abandonee

Related words

• ban
• banish
• bandit

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press