abate

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English abaten,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman abatre, also abater, and abatre, abattre (modern French abattre),^[5][6][7] formed from a- (from Latin ad- (“to”)) and batre (“to beat”),^[2][3][8] which goes back to Latin battuō (“to beat”).^[3][8][7] Barnhart and Etymonline give the intermediate form as Vulgar Latin *abbattō.^[6][7][4] Old French abatre meant to knock down or raze (about 1100), to fell, to slay, and later to curb, reduce or lessen (1256), and in law to annul (about 1292).^[5] The Anglo-Norman verb, recorded from the second quarter of the 12th century, had the same range: to bring down, fell, topple a building, lower.^[9] It is related to bat, both the verb meaning to wink and the noun meaning a stick,^[6] and through the French verb to abatis and abattoir, which keep the literal French sense "to fell, slaughter".^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To put an end to a condition or state of affairs: about 1300, in the South English Legendary's life of Saint Nicholas.^[5][7] The Oxford Dictionary of English notes that the word was first used in the legal sense.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The legal senses, to make a writ void and to put an end to a proceeding, are among the oldest, from the early 14th century;^[5] abating a nuisance, removing it, is recorded from 1647.^[5] The sense "to lessen in force or intensity" appears about 1335, and the intransitive "to grow less" about 1387, in Trevisa;^[5] Barnhart dates the sense "to become less" to before 1325.^[6] From 1340 it was also used of reducing a price or value, and Weekley compares the colloquial knock something off a price.^[5][10] The general sense "to put an end to" was obsolete by 1671.^[5] In Northamptonshire dialect abate meant to clear away the topsoil above stone to be quarried.^[11] The shortened form bate comes from abate.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – to put an end to (obsolete by 1671).^[5][7]
• before 1325 – in law, to make a writ void.^[5]
• c. 1335 – to lessen in force or intensity.^[5]
• 1340 – to reduce in value or price.^[5]
• c. 1387 – intransitive, to grow less, subside.^[5][7]
• c. 1425 – to knock down, demolish (later only in law).^[5]
• 1560 – intransitive, to become smaller in amount, in the Geneva Bible.^[5]
• 1647 – in law, to remove a nuisance.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To become less strong or intense; to subside: The rain did not abate until dawn.^[12][3][5]
2. To reduce or lessen in degree, amount or intensity.^[12][3][5]
3. (law) To put an end to or remove (a nuisance); to suspend or end (a legal action); to annul (a writ).^[12][5]
4. (law) Of a writ or action, to become void.^[12][5]
5. To deduct or subtract, as from a price.^[12][5]
6. (obsolete) To put an end to.^[5][13]

Word family

• abater
• abatable
• abatement
• bate
• unabated
• unabating

Related words

• abatis
• abattoir
• batter
• combat
• debate
• rebate

Usage notes

The OED and the Shorter Oxford also record a separate legal verb abate, to take possession of a dead owner's land before the heir, from Anglo-Norman abatre, an alteration of enbatre that was confused with this verb (from about 1436),^[5][13] and an obsolete hawking verb meaning to flutter, from Middle French esbattre (before 1475).^[5] The Shorter Oxford also has abate, an Italian abbot or other cleric, borrowed from Italian abate in the early 18th century.^[13]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
12. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press