abusive English · revision 15320

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1530s|origins=la ūtor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əˈbjuː.sɪv/ ''(UK)''; /əˈbju.sɪv/, /əˈbju.zɪv/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|abusif]] (Anglo-French [[m|xno|abusif|t=misplaced, wrong]]),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[la-lat|abūsīvus|t=misapplied, improper]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|abūsus]], the past participle of [[m|la|abūtor|t=to misuse, use up]] (see [[abuse]]).^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Improper, misapplied: the 1530s, implied in abusively, in Etymonline;^(Etymonline) the OED's first quotation, 1583, is for wrongly used, and in rhetoric catachrestic.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Full of abuses, corrupt, is from the 1580s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Deceitful or cheating is from 1602,^(OED 1989) and using insulting or coarse language from 1621.^(OED 1989) Shakespeare has ''abusious'' (1594), and ''abuseful'' was used from the 17th to the 19th century.^(Etymonline) Physically harming another person, as in ''an abusive relationship'', is in modern dictionaries.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1530s – improper.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1583 – misapplied.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1589 – corrupt.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1621 – insulting.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Using insulting or coarse language: ''abusive remarks''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Treating someone cruelly or violently; causing physical or emotional harm.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Wrongly used; corrupt.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[abusively]]

+ * [[abusiveness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[abuse]]

+ * [[use]]

+ * [[utility]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}