abolish
verbUK /əˈbɒl.ɪʃ/ · US /əˈbɑl.ɪʃ/
Etymology From late Middle English abolisshen, from Middle French aboliss-, extended stem of abolir, from Latin abolēre (“to retard, check the growth of, (and by extension) destroy, abolish”), and inchoative abolēscere (“to wither, vanish, cease”).
1
To end a law, system, institution, custom or practice.
- Slavery was abolished in the nineteenth century.
- The abolition of the death penalty in international law2002, William Schabas, The abolition of the death penalty in international law, Cambridge University Press, title:
2
Archaic To put an end to or destroy, as a physical object; to wipe out.
- And with thy blood abolish so reproachful blot.1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene:
- His quick instinctive hand Caught at the hilt, as to abolish him.1892, Alfred Tennyson, The Marriage of Geraint:
- Derived terms
- abolishable, abolisher, abolishment, reabolish, unabolish, unabolished
- Related terms
- abolition, abolitionist