abstener

Forms

abstener (first-person singular present abstengo, first-person singular preterite abstuve, past participle abstenido)^[1] Old Spanish also wrote astener, in Alfonso X's General Estoria (c. 1280).^[2][3] The forms abstenir and abstiner occur only in the 15th century, the first in the Navarrese of the Prince of Viana;^[1] astenerse is found only in Oudin, 1617.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin abstineō (“to keep away, hold back”), adapted to the conjugation of tener.^[5][6][1] The Latin verb is formed from abs- (“away from”) and teneō (“to hold”).^[7][1] French abstenir was adapted in the same way, its ending shaped by tenir.^[8] The verb is also Galician abster and Asturian astener.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first record is the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes (1218–c. 1250), where the verb is used without a pronoun: Deuemos nos abstener enel tienpo de las mieses de no aplazar, ni pendrar “in harvest time we must refrain from summoning or seizing pledges”.^[2][4] Corominas gives the second quarter of the 15th century, with Juan de Mena and Díaz de Gámez.^[5][9]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's General Estoria uses it for abstinence from women and for giving up an inheritance.^[3][4] Until the 15th century it was also intransitive; the transitive sense “to restrain, keep someone from something” is recorded in the 15th century and in Alonso de Palencia's dictionary of 1490, and is now obsolete.^[4][10][6] Moliner notes that the transitive verb is not used with a person as subject.^[11] The first record in the Americas is from Nueva Granada in 1555.^[12]

Modern use adds abstaining from a vote and, in law, a judge or official withdrawing from a case; the noun abstención, from Late Latin, appears in 1701.^[6][13][14]

Timeline

• 1218–1250 – the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes has the first record.^[2]
• c. 1275 – Alfonso X's General Estoria uses it for sexual abstinence.^[2][3]
• c. 1280 – the form astener appears in the General Estoria.^[2][3]
• second quarter of the 15th century – Corominas's first record, in Juan de Mena and Díaz de Gámez.^[5]
• 1490 – Alonso de Palencia records the transitive abstener de yras.^[10]
• 1555 – first record in the Americas.^[12]
• 1617 – Oudin records astenerse.^[4]
• 1701 – the noun abstención is first recorded.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive) To abstain, refrain or deprive oneself of something: Se abstuvo de comer dulces durante la Cuaresma.^[6][1][11]
2. (reflexive) Not to take part in something one has a right to, especially a vote.^[6]
3. (reflexive, law) Of a judge or official, to withdraw from a case.^[6][13]
4. (transitive, obsolete) To restrain or hold back.^[6][10]

Related words

• tener
• abstención
• abstinencia
• abstinente
• contener
• Latin abstineō
• French abstenir

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. abstener
3. ^ a b c d Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. abstener
4. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. abstener
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 461
6. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. abstener
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. abstenir
9. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. tener
10. ^ a b c Alonso Pedraz, Martín (1986), Diccionario medieval español: desde las Glosas Emilianenses y Silenses (s. X) hasta el siglo XV, 2 vols., Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, p. 59
11. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. abstener
12. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. abstener
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. abstención
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. abstención