| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| abstain |
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| SYLLABICATION: | ab·stain |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   b-st n ,  b- |
| INTRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: ab·stained, ab·stain·ing, ab·stains
1. To refrain from something by one's own choice: abstain from traditional political rhetoric. See synonyms at refrain1. 2. To refrain from voting: Forty senators voted in favor of the bill, 45 voted against it, and 15 abstained. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English absteinen, to avoid, from Old French abstenir, from Latin abstin re, to hold back : abs-, ab-, away; see ab–1 + tenre, to hold; see ten- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | ab·stainer —NOUN
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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