abstain

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English absteinen, also abstenen,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman abstenir, also astenir, from its stressed stem absteign-,^[4][5][2][6] and directly borrowed from Latin abstineō (“to keep away, hold back, refrain”).^[6][2][7] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from 1120–40,^[8] and Old French astenir is recorded in reflexive use from the mid-11th century.^[6] The Latin verb is formed from abs-, a variant of ab- (“away, from”), and teneō (“to hold”),^[6][7][3] from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”).^[9][7] Klein and Weekley derive the French verb from a Vulgar Latin *absteniō.^[10][11] Related Romance verbs are Old Occitan abstener, Catalan abstenir, Spanish abstener, Portuguese abster and Italian astenere.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Reflexive, to keep or withhold oneself from something: about 1380, in Sir Ferumbras.^[6][3] Ayto notes that the word first kept the Latin sense "hold or keep away", hence "withhold".^[12]

Semantic evolution

The intransitive sense "to refrain from doing or enjoying something" is recorded from before 1382, in the Wycliffite Bible,^[6] and the Middle English verb was used of avoiding food, people or places, and of living austerely.^[2][9][6] Ayto dates its narrower use for refraining from pleasures, especially drink, to the 16th century;^[12] Etymonline finds it used specifically of liquor from the late 14th century,^[9] while the OED's first record of "to refrain from alcohol, be a teetotaller" is from 1784.^[6] The sense "to refrain from voting" first appears in Scotland in 1678, with from,^[6] and without it in 1853;^[6] Etymonline dates it to 1796.^[9] Johnson (1755) defined the word as "to forbear, to deny one's self any gratification", always with from.^[13] In South Asian English it also means to stay away from work or school (from 1927).^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – reflexive, to keep oneself from something.^[6][3]
• before 1382 – intransitive, to refrain from something.^[6]
• before 1387 – transitive, to withhold something (now rare).^[6]
• before 1398 – to live austerely (obsolete by 1533).^[6]
• before 1425 – to refrain from food; formerly, to fast.^[6]
• 1678 – to refrain from voting.^[6] Etymonline dates this sense to 1796.^[9]
• 1784 – to refrain from alcohol.^[6]
• 1927 – in South Asian English, to stay away from one's work or school.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To keep oneself by choice from doing or enjoying something, usually with from: He abstained from coffee for a month.^[14][4][15]
2. To choose not to vote, as in a committee or legislature: Three members abstained.^[15][6][4]
3. To refrain from drinking alcohol.^[6][16]
4. (South Asian English) To stay away from one's work or school.^[6]

Word family

• abstainer
• nonabstaining
• abstention

Related words

• abstemious
• abstinence
• abstinent
• contain
• detain
• maintain
• obtain
• retain
• tenacious
• tenant

Usage notes

Ayto stresses that abstain has no connection with abstemious, which comes from a Latin word for alcoholic drink.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
16. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press