abstinence

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English abstinence,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman abstinence, also abstenence and abstinance,^[3][4] and Old French abstinence, earlier astenance,^[3][5][6] and partly directly borrowed from Latin abstinentia (“restraint, self-control, fasting”).^[3][2] The Latin noun is formed from abstinēns, the present participle of abstineō (“to hold back, keep off”),^[5][7][6] from ab- (“off, away”) and teneō (“to hold”),^[5] from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”).^[5] In Latin it meant restraint, self-control and integrity as well as fasting and starvation.^[3][5] The OED compares Spanish abstinencia, Italian astinenza and German Abstinenz.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Restraint in eating, or fasting, and self-control, including abstaining from sexual intercourse: about 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[3] The MED's earliest quotation, from the Ayenbite of Inwyt (1340), names it as the guard of chastity,^[2] and Barnhart and Etymonline date the word from that text, to 1340 and the mid-14th century.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

The Anglo-Norman word, recorded from the mid-12th century, already covered restraint in eating, temperance in general and a truce.^[4] In English the oldest uses concern the appetites: Etymonline notes it was used especially of sexual appetite, but in Middle English also of food, fighting and luxury.^[5][8] From before 1382, in the Wycliffite Bible, it was used generally of refraining from anything, with from or formerly of.^[3][2] Chaucer used it 12 times.^[9] A sense "truce, armistice", usually in abstinence of war, lasted from 1386 to the 19th century, mainly in Scotland.^[3][10] The sense of refraining from alcohol is first found in 1731,^[3] and total abstinence in this sense dates from about 1830, according to Weekley.^[11] Political economists from 1836 used it for holding back spending in order to accumulate capital, a sense now obsolete.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1225 – restraint in eating, fasting; self-control; abstaining from sexual intercourse.^[3]
• before 1382 – refraining from anything, with from.^[3]
• 1386 – a truce (obsolete by 1870).^[3]
• 1731 – abstaining from alcohol.^[3]
• c. 1830 – total abstinence.^[11]
• 1836 – in political economy, holding back spending to accumulate capital (obsolete by 1899).^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The practice of refraining from something, especially from indulging an appetite or desire: abstinence from tobacco.^[12][13][3]
2. Refraining from drinking alcohol; teetotalism, also called total abstinence.^[12][3][13]
3. Refraining from sexual intercourse.^[3][8]
4. (Roman Catholic Church) Refraining from certain foods, especially meat, as a religious discipline or penance.^[13][12]
5. (obsolete, 1386–1870) A truce or cessation of hostilities.^[3][10][8]

Word family

• abstinent
• abstinently
• abstinence syndrome
• abstinence theory

Related words

• abstemious
• abstain
• abstention
• continence
• tenacious

References

1. ^ 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 e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
10. ^ a b 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)
11. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins