abstain
Part of speech: verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: First attested around 1380. From Middle English absteynen, absteinen, abstenen, from Old French astenir, abstenir, from Latin abstineō (“to hold oneself back”) from abs- (“from”) + teneō (“to hold”). See also tenable.
Inflected forms:
form: abstains
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: abstaining
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: abstained
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: abstained
pos: verb
tags: past
form: no-table-tags
pos: verb
tags: table-tags
form: glossary
pos: verb
tags: inflection-template
form: abstain
pos: verb
tags: infinitive
form: abstain
pos: verb
tags: first-person
present
singular
form: abstained
pos: verb
tags: first-person
past
singular
form: abstain
pos: verb
tags: present
second-person
singular
form: abstainest
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
second-person
singular
form: abstained
pos: verb
tags: past
second-person
singular
form: abstainedst
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
second-person
singular
form: abstains
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: abstaineth
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
singular
third-person
form: abstained
pos: verb
tags: past
singular
third-person
form: abstain
pos: verb
tags: plural
present
form: abstained
pos: verb
tags: past
plural
form: abstain
pos: verb
tags: present
subjunctive
form: abstained
pos: verb
tags: past
subjunctive
form: abstain
pos: verb
tags: imperative
present
form: -
pos: verb
tags: imperative
past
form: abstaining
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: abstained
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
Senses:
gloss: Keep or withhold oneself.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
reflexive
transitive
gloss: Refrain from (something or doing something); keep from doing, especially an indulgence.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: In order to improve his health, Rob decided to abstain from smoking.
Who abstains from meat that is not gaunt?
The Security Council […] calls upon all Governments and authorities, without prejudice to the rights, claims or positions of the parties concerned, to abstain from any hostile military action in Palestine and to that end to issue a cease-fire order to their military and paramilitary forces
gloss: Refrain from (something or doing something); keep from doing, especially an indulgence.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: … she had made Bunting abstain very early in their acquaintance. … Glad she was now that he had taken the pledge as a younger man; but for that nothing would have kept him from the drink during the bad times they had gone through.
gloss: Fast (not eat for a period).
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
obsolete
gloss: Deliberately refrain from casting one's vote at a meeting where one is present.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: I abstain from this vote, as I have no particular preference.
[…]forcing a small portion of the population to abstain from voting
gloss: Hinder; keep back; withhold.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: Whether he abstain men from marying [sic].
Synonyms: abjure
deny oneself
forbear
forgo
give up
refrain
relinquish
withhold
Related words: abstemious
abstinence
abstinent
Derived words: abstainable
abstainer
abstainment
abstention
nonabstaining
Translations:
lang: Arabic
word: اِمْتَنَعَ
roman: imtanaʕa
lang: Bangi
word: kila
lang: Bulgarian
word: въздържам се
roman: vǎzdǎržam se
lang: Catalan
word: abstenir-se
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 避免
roman: bìmiǎn
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 戒除
roman: jièchú
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 棄權 /弃权
roman: qìquán
lang: Czech
word: zdržet se
lang: Danish
word: afholde sig
lang: Danish
word: afstå
lang: Dutch
word: zich onthouden
lang: Dutch
word: abstineren
lang: Esperanto
word: abstini
lang: Finnish
word: kieltäytyä
lang: Finnish
word: pidättäytyä
lang: French
word: s'abstenir
lang: German
word: verzichten
lang: Gothic
word: 𐌲𐌰𐌸𐌰𐍂𐌱𐌰𐌽
roman: gaþarban
lang: Hebrew
word: התנזר
roman: hitnazér
lang: Hebrew
word: נמנע
roman: nimná
lang: Hungarian
word: tartózkodik
lang: Hungarian
word: (meg)tartóztatja magát
lang: Ido
word: abstenar
lang: Italian
word: astenersi
lang: Japanese
word: 慎む
roman: tsutsushimu
lang: Japanese
word: 差し控える
roman: sashihikaeru
lang: Latin
word: abstineo
lang: Lingala
word: kila
lang: Māori
word: papare
lang: Māori
word: pare
lang: Māori
word: wainamu
lang: Mongo
word: kila
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: abstinere
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: avholde seg
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: avstå
lang: Old English
word: forbūgan
lang: Polish
word: powstrzymywać się
lang: Polish
word: powstrzymać się
lang: Portuguese
word: abster-se
lang: Portuguese
word: privar-se
lang: Romanian
word: abține
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: suzdržávati
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: суздржа́вати
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: sustezati
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: сустезати
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: apstinírati
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: апстини́рати
lang: Sinhalese
word: වළකිනවා
roman: waḷakinawā
lang: Slovene
word: vzdržati se
lang: Spanish
word: abstenerse
lang: Swedish
word: avhålla sig
lang: Swedish
word: avstå
lang: Tày
word: căm
lang: Ukrainian
word: утри́муватися
roman: utrýmuvatysja
lang: Ukrainian
word: утри́матися
roman: utrýmatysja
lang: Woiwurrung
word: nin'wilt-teni
lang: Armenian
word: ձեռնպահ լինել
roman: jeṙnpah linel
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 棄權 /弃权
roman: qìquán
lang: Czech
word: zdržet se
lang: Danish
word: afholde sig (fra at stemme)
lang: Dutch
word: zich onthouden (van stemming)
lang: Finnish
word: äänestää tyhjää
lang: French
word: s'abstenir
lang: German
word: sich enthalten
lang: Hebrew
word: נמנע
roman: nimná
lang: Hungarian
word: tartózkodik
lang: Italian
word: astenersi
lang: Japanese
word: 投票を棄権する
roman: tōhyō o kiken suru
lang: Lao
word: ງົດອອກສຽງ
roman: ngot ʼǭk sīang
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: stemme blankt
lang: Polish
word: wstrzymywać się
lang: Polish
word: wstrzymać się
lang: Portuguese
word: abster-se
lang: Russian
word: возде́рживаться
roman: vozdérživatʹsja
lang: Russian
word: воздержа́ться
roman: vozderžátʹsja
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: apstinírati
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: апстини́рати
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: uzdr̀žati
lang: Spanish
word: abstenerse
lang: Swedish
word: lägga ned sin röst
lang: Swedish
word: röstskolka
lang: Thai
word: งดออกเสียง
lang: Ukrainian
word: утри́муватися
roman: utrýmuvatysja
lang: Ukrainian
word: утри́матися
roman: utrýmatysja