abject
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (attributive): (US) IPA: /ˈæb.d͡ʒɛkt/, X-SAMPA: /"{bdZEkt/, /"{bdZIkt/, enPR: 'ăbjĕkt
- (US) IPA: /æbˈd͡ʒɛkt/, enPR: ăbʹjĕkt
- Rhymes: -ɛkt
-
Audio (UK) (file)
Etymology 1[edit]
- From Middle English abiect (“outcast, wretched”), from Latin abiectus, past participle of abiciō (“to throw away, cast off, to reject”), from ab (“away”) + iaciō (“to throw”)[1].
Adjective[edit]
abject (comparative abjecter or more abject, superlative abjectest or most abject)
- (obsolete) Rejected; cast aside. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the early 17th century.][2]
- Sunk to or existing in a low condition, state, or position. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).][2]
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost:
- So thick bestrown abject and lost lay these, covering the flood.
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost:
- Cast down in spirit or hope; degraded; servile; grovelling; despicable; lacking courage; offered in a humble and often ingratiating spirit. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).][2]
- (Can we date this quote?) Joseph Addison, Whig Examiner:
- Base and abject flatterers.
- 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second:
- An abject liar.
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew, I-ii:
- And banish hence these abject, lowly dreams.
- 1931, Faulkner, Sanctuary, ii:
- He sat obediently with that tentative and abject eagerness of a man who has but one pleasure left and whom the world can reach only through one sense, for he was both blind and deaf.
- (Can we date this quote?) Joseph Addison, Whig Examiner:
- Showing utter hopelessness; helplessness; showing resignation; wretched. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).][2]
- 1927, Countee Cullen, From the Dark Tower:
- We shall not always plant while others reap \ The golden increment of bursting fruit, \ Not always countenance, abject and mute \ That lesser men should hold their brothers cheap;
- 1927, Countee Cullen, From the Dark Tower:
Usage notes[edit]
- Nouns to which "abject" is often applied: poverty, fear, terror, submission, misery, failure, state, condition, apology, humility, servitude, manner, coward.
Synonyms[edit]
- beggarly, contemptible, cringing, degraded, groveling, ignoble, mean, mean-spirited, slavish, vile, worthless
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
Sunk to a low condition; down in spirit or hope
Cast down; rejected; low-lying
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
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Noun[edit]
abject (plural abjects)
- A person in the lowest and most despicable condition; a castaway; outcast. [First attested from the late 15th century.][2]
- (Can we date this quote?) Isaac Taylor,:
- Shall these abjects, these victims, these outcasts, know any thing of pleasure?
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare, Richard III, Act I, Scene I:
- We are the queen's abjects, and must obey.
- (Can we date this quote?) Isaac Taylor,:
Translations[edit]
A person in the lowest and most despicable condition
Etymology 2[edit]
From Middle English abjecten, derived from the adjective form.[3]
Verb[edit]
abject (third-person singular simple present abjects, present participle abjecting, simple past and past participle abjected)
- (transitive, obsolete) To cast off or out; to reject. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17th century.][2]
- 2001, Jana Evans Braziel, Kathleen LeBesco (editors), Bodies out of bounds: fatness and transgression, page 141:
- Rather than abjecting her own fat body, the Ipecac-taking fat girl is abjecting diet culture.
- 2001, Jana Evans Braziel, Kathleen LeBesco (editors), Bodies out of bounds: fatness and transgression, page 141:
- (transitive, obsolete) To cast down; hence, to abase; to degrade; to lower; to debase. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17th century.][2]
- (Can we find and add a quotation of John Donne to this entry?)
Translations[edit]
To cast off or down
Related terms[edit]
Shorthand[edit]
- Gregg (Version: Centennial,Series 90,DJS): a - b - j - k - t
- (Version: Simplified,Anniversary,Pre-Anniversary): a - b - j - k
References[edit]
- ^ 2004 [1998], Elliott K. Dobbie; Dunmore, C. William, et al., Barnhart, Robert K. editor, Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, Edinburgh, Scotland: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, ISBN 0550142304, page 3:
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2003 [1933], Brown, Lesley editor, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, edition 5th, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7, page 5:
- ^ 1976 [1909], Gove, Philip Babcock editor, Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged, Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam Co., ISBN 0-87779-101-5, page 4:
French[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
-
abject (file)
Adjective[edit]
abject m (feminine abjecte, masculine plural abjects, feminine plural abjectes)
- (literary) Worthy of utmost contempt or disgust; vile; despicable.
- (literary, obsolete) Of the lowest social position.
Usage notes[edit]
- Abject lacks the idea of groveling, of moral degradation over time that is present in the English word.
