abolish English · revision 958

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əˈbɒl.ɪʃ/; /əˈbɑl.ɪʃ/, /əˈbɑl.əʃ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|abolisshen]], [[bor|frm|abolir]] (stem ''aboliss-''),^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|la|abolēre|t=to destroy, efface; cause to die out]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The Latin verb is perhaps formed from ''ab-'' “off, away” as an opposite of ''adolēre'', related to ''adolēscere'' “to grow up”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) though it may instead be connected with Greek ''óllumi'' “I destroy”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To put an end to, do away with, annul (1459 in Barnhart; 1490 in the OED).^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In early use the word could apply to persons and physical things, meaning “to destroy, annihilate”, but this application has long been obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) It is now used of institutions, laws, customs and practices, especially those long established.^(Etymonline)^(AHD) The noun ''abolition'' and ''abolitionist'', the latter coined around 1800 in the campaign against the slave trade, came to refer especially to the ending of slavery.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1459 – to do away with (Barnhart).^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1490 – the OED's first quotation.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1800 – ''abolitionist''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To do away with; to put an end to or [[annul]] (a law, institution or practice), as in ''abolish slavery''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To destroy completely.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[abolishable]]

+ * [[abolisher]]

+ * [[abolishment]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[abolition]]

+ * [[abolitionist]]

+ * [[annul]]

+ * [[eradicate]]

+ * [[adolescent]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The AHD notes that ''abolish'' applies only to conditions, practices or regulations, not to material things or persons, and contrasts it with ''[[exterminate]]'', ''[[extinguish]]'', ''[[extirpate]]'', ''[[eradicate]]'' and ''[[obliterate]]''.^(AHD) Random House says ''abolish'' often implies a summary order, while ''stamp out'' implies forcible ending and ''eradicate'' leaving no trace.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}