abandon

See also: Abandon and a bandon

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈbæn.dən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: aban‧don

Etymology 1

• From Middle English abandounen, from Old French abandoner, formed from a (“at, to”) + bandon (“jurisdiction, control”), from Late Latin bannum (“proclamation”), bannus, bandum, from Frankish *ban, *bann, from Proto-Germanic *bannaną (“to proclaim, command”) (compare English ban), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to speak”). See also ban, banal.
• Displaced Middle English forleten (“to abandon”), from Old English forlǣtan, anforlǣtan; see forlet; and Middle English forleven (“to leave behind, abandon”), from Old English forlǣfan; see forleave.

Verb

abandon (third-person singular simple present abandons, present participle abandoning, simple past and past participle abandoned)

1. (transitive) To give up or relinquish control of, to surrender or to give oneself over, or to yield to one's emotions. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470)]
   • 1856, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James II. Volume 3, page 312:

     […] he abandoned himself […] to his favourite vice.

2. (transitive) To desist in doing, practicing, following, holding, or adhering to; to turn away from; to permit to lapse; to renounce; to discontinue. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470)]
   • 2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly‎^[1], volume 188, number 23, page 19:

     In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […]   The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra–wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.

3. (transitive) To leave behind; to desert, as in a ship, a position, or a person, typically in response to overwhelming odds or impending dangers; to forsake, in spite of a duty or responsibility. [First attested in the late 15^th century.]
   • 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening‎^[2], page 3:

     Hope was overthrown, and yet could not be abandoned.

   Many baby girls have been abandoned on the streets of Beijing.

   She abandoned her husband for a new man.

4. (transitive, obsolete) To subdue; to take control of. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the mid 16^th century.]
5. (transitive, obsolete) To cast out; to banish; to expel; to reject. [Attested from the mid 16^th century until the mid 17^th century.]
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, act I, scene ii:

     Being all this time abandoned from your bed.

6. (transitive) To no longer exercise a right, title, or interest, especially with no interest of reclaiming it again; to yield; to relinquish. [First attested in the mid 18^th century.]

   I hereby abandon my position as manager.

7. (transitive) To surrender to the insurer (an insured item), so as to claim a total loss.

Conjugation

Conjugation of abandon

infinitive	(to) abandon
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	abandon	abandoned
2nd-person singular	abandon, abandonest*	abandoned, abandonedst*
3rd-person singular	abandons, abandoneth*	abandoned
plural	abandon
subjunctive	abandon
imperative	abandon	—
participles	abandoning	abandoned

^*Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms

• abdicate
• abjure
• blin
• cast aside
• cease
• cede
• deliver up
• depart from
• desert
• desist from
• discontinue
• dispense with
• drop
• forgo
• forlet
• forsake
• forswear
• give up
• jilt
• leave behind
• part with
• quit
• recant
• relinquish
• renounce
• repudiate
• resign
• retire
• retract
• run out on
• surrender
• vacate
• waive
• withdraw from
• withsake
• yield

 

Antonyms

• acquire
• adopt
• advocate
• arrogate
• cherish
• claim
• defend
• embrace
• engage
• gain
• hold
• join
• keep
• maintain
• occupy
• protect
• retain
• undertake
• unite
• uphold
• vindicate

 

Derived terms

• aband
• abandonable
• abandoned
• abandonee
• abandoner
• abandonment
• abandonware

 

Translations

to subdue; to take control of

• Finnish: alistaa (fi)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dominere, ta over, overta, undertrykke

to give up control of, surrender

• Afan Oromo: ganuu (om), guutummaatti dhiisuu
• Arabic: اِنْصَرَفَ‎ (inṣarafa), يَنْصَرِفُ‎ (yanṣarifu)

  Egyptian Arabic: يسلم‎ (yesalem), يستسلم‎ (yestaslem), يتخلى عن‎ (yetḵalā ʿan)

• Azerbaijani: tərk etmək (az), əl çəkmək, buraxmaq (az)
• Belarusian: пакіда́ць impf (pakidácʹ), пакі́нуць pf (pakínucʹ)
• Bengali: ছেড়ে দেওয়া (cheṛe deẇa), ক্ষান্তি দেওয়া (kkhanti deẇa)
• Burmese: ပစ် (my) (pac), စွန့် (my) (cwan.)
• Catalan: abandonar (ca), deixar (ca)
• Cherokee: ᏗᏲᎯᏗ (diyohidi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 放棄 (zh), 放弃 (zh) (fàngqì)

  Min Nan: 放捒 (zh-min-nan) (pàng-sak, pàng-sat), khì-choa̍t

• Czech: vzdávat se impf, vzdát se (cs) pf
• Dalmatian: abandonur
• Danish: opgive
• Dutch: opgeven (nl), prijsgeven (nl)
• Esperanto: forlasi
• Fijian: biu-ta (fj)
• Finnish: hylätä (fi), luovuttaa (fi), antautua (fi)
• French: abandonner (fr)
• Gallurese: randumà
• German: aufgeben (de), verlassen (de)
• Greek: εγκαταλείπω (el) (egkataleípo), παρατώ (el) (parató)
• Haitian Creole: abandone
• Hebrew: נטש‎ (he) (natash), זנח‎ (he) (zanakh), עזב‎ (he) (azav)
• Hindi: छोड़ देना (hi) (choṛ denā), त्यागना (hi) (tyāgnā), छोड़ना (hi) (choṛnā)
• Icelandic: hætta (is) (við (is))
• Ido: abandonar (io)
• Interlingua: abandonar (ia)
• Irish: tabhair suas
• Italian: abbandonare (it)
• Japanese: 放棄する (ja) (hōki suru), 断念する (ja) (dan'nen suru), 手放す (ja) (tebanasu)
• Kabuverdianu: bandona, bandoná, bandonâ
• Kazakh: қалдыру (kk) (qaldırw), тастау (kk) (tastaw)
• Korean: 단념(斷念)하다 (ko) (dannyeomhada), 염단(念斷)하다 (yeomdanhada), 절념(絶念)하다 (jeollyeomhada), 체관(諦觀)하다 (chegwanhada)

• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: dest jê ber dan, dev jê berdan (ku)

• Lao: ປະຖິ້ມ (pa thim), ເຊົາ (sao)
• Latin: relinquō
• Manchu: ᡶᠠᡵᡧᠠᠮᠪᡳ (faršambi)
• Marathi: त्यागणे (tyāgṇe), सोडून देणे (soḍūn deṇe)
• Middle English: abandounen
• Nahuatl: itopanecauiloc
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: oppgi, skrinlegge

• Occitan: abandonar (oc)
• Old English: ofġiefan
• Persian: دست کشیدن‎ (fa) (dast kashidan), رها کردن‎ (fa) (rahâ kardan)
• Polish: porzucać (pl) impf, porzucić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: abandonar (pt), desistir (pt), largar mão (pt)
• Romanian: abandona (ro), părăsi (ro)
• Russian: отка́зываться (от) (ru) impf (otkázyvatʹsja (ot)), оставля́ть (ru) impf (ostavljátʹ), броса́ть (ru) impf (brosátʹ), покида́ть (ru) impf (pokidátʹ)
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese Sardinian: disamparai

  Logudorese Sardinian: disamparare

• Sassarese: abbandunà
• Scottish Gaelic: thoir suas
• Slovak: vzdávať sa impf, vzdať sa pf
• Slovene: opustiti
• Spanish: renunciar (es), suspender (es)
• Swedish: avstå från, frångå (sv), ge upp (sv)
• Tajik: партофтан (tg) (partoftan)
• Tamil: கைவிடுதல் (ta) (kaiviṭutal)
• Telugu: వదులుకొను (vadulukonu)
• Thai: ทิ้ง (th) (tíng), ละทิ้ง (lá tíng)
• Tocharian B: ār-, ārsk-
• Tok Pisin: lusim
• Turkish: bırakmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: покида́ти impf (pokydáty), поки́нути pf (pokýnuty)
• Vietnamese: bỏ (vi), từ bỏ (vi)
• Welsh: gadael (cy)

to desist in doing, practicing, following, holding, or adhering to

• Finnish: luovuttaa (fi)

• Kabuverdianu: bandona, bandoná, bandonâ
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: avstå, vende seg mot

to leave behind or desert; to forsake

• Albanian: braktis (sq)
• Arabic: تَرَكَ‎ (ar) (taraka), يترك‎

  Egyptian Arabic: يهجر‎ (yuhgurr), يسيب‎ (yesīb)

• Armenian: լքել (hy) (lkʿel)
• Aromanian: pãrnãsescu
• Azerbaijani: tərk etmək (az), atmaq (az)
• Bengali: পরিত্যাগ করা (pôritjag kôra), ছেড়ে চলে যাওয়া (cheṛe côle jaẇa)
• Bulgarian: напускам (bg) (napuskam), изоставям (bg) (izostavjam)
• Catalan: abandonar (ca)
• Cherokee: ᏗᏲᎯᏗ (diyohidi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 遺棄 (zh), 遗弃 (zh) (yíqì)

• Czech: opustit (cs)
• Danish: forlade (da), efterlade
• Dutch: achterlaten (nl), in de steek laten (nl); verzaken (nl), verlaten (nl), begeven (nl) (to forsake)
• Esperanto: forlasi, postlasi
• Finnish: jättää heitteille, hylätä (fi)
• French: abandonner (fr)
• German: aufgeben (de), zurücklassen (de), aussetzen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌱𐌹𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌸𐌰𐌽 (bileiþan)
• Greek: εγκαταλείπω (el) (egkataleípo), παρατώ (el) (parató), αφήνω (el) (afíno)

  Ancient: καταλείπω (kataleípō)

• Haitian Creole: abandone, vire do bay, kite, dezète
• Hindi: छोड़ देना (hi) (choṛ denā); परित्यागना (hi) (parityāgnā), त्याग देना (tyāg denā) (to forsake)
• Icelandic: yfirgefa
• Interlingua: abandonar (ia), deserer
• Irish: tréig, fág

  Old Irish: do·beir druimm fri

• Italian: abbandonare (it)
• Japanese: 放置する (ja) (hōchi suru), 見捨てる (ja) (misuteru)
• Kabuverdianu: bandona, bandoná, bandonâ
• Khmer: ឈ្លាក (cliek), បោះបង់ចោល (bɑh bɑŋ caol), ចោល (km) (caol)

• Korean: 방치(放置)하다 (ko) (bangchihada), 기치(棄置)하다 (gichihada); 버리다 (ko) (beorida) (to forsake), 떠나다 (ko) (tteonada)
• Latin: relinquō, dēserō (la)
• Manx: treig (as proposal), faag, cur seose (as job, post)
• Maori: whakamahue
• Marathi: त्यागणे (tyāgṇe), सोडून देणे (soḍūn deṇe); परित्याग करणे (parityāg karṇe) (to forsake)
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Nahuatl: itopanecauiloc
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forlate (no)

• Occitan: abandonar (oc)
• Pennsylvania German: verlosse
• Persian: به حال خود رها کردن‎ (be hâl xud rahâ kardan), ترک کردن‎ (fa) (tarak kardan)
• Polish: opuszczać (pl) impf, opuścić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: abandonar (pt)
• Romanian: părăsi (ro), abandona (ro)
• Russian: оставля́ть (ru) impf (ostavljátʹ), оста́вить (ru) pf (ostávitʹ), покида́ть (ru) impf (pokidátʹ), поки́нуть (ru) pf (pokínutʹ), броса́ть (ru) impf (brosátʹ), бро́сить (ru) pf (brósitʹ)
• Sanskrit: त्यजति (sa) (tyajati)
• Scottish Gaelic: dìobair, trèig, fàg
• Slovak: opúšťať impf, opustiť pf
• Slovene: zapustiti (sl)
• Spanish: abandonar (es)
• Swedish: gå ifrån, lämna (sv), överge (sv)
• Tagalog: pabayaan, iwanan
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Tocharian B: ār-, ārsk-
• Tok Pisin: lusim
• Turkish: terk etmek (tr), koyup gitmek
• Vietnamese: bộm, từ bỏ (vi), bỏ rơi, ruồng bỏ (vi)
• Welsh: gadael (cy)
• Yiddish: אַװעקװאַרפֿן‎‎ (avekvarfn‎)

to cast out, expel, reject

• Catalan: abandonar (ca)
• Cherokee: ᏗᏲᎯᏗ (diyohidi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 丟棄 (zh), 丢弃 (zh) (diūqì)

• Danish: forvise, udstøde
• Dutch: verwerpen (nl), afwijzen (nl), verbannen (nl)
• Esperanto: elpeli
• Finnish: ajaa pois
• German: verbannen (de)
• Greek: απαρνούμαι (el) (aparnoúmai), αποκηρύσσω (el) (apokirýsso)
• Irish: caith amach, díbir
• Italian: bandire (it)
• Japanese: 見捨てる (ja) (misuteru), 捨てる (ja) (suteru)
• Korean: 버리다 (ko) (beorida)

• Nahuatl: itopanecauiloc
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forvise

• Polish: wyganiać (pl) impf, wygonić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: expulsar (pt)
• Samoan: tu'ulafoa'i
• Spanish: expulsar (es)
• Swedish: förvisa (sv)
• Telugu: వదిలివేయు (te) (vadilivēyu), వదిలివెళ్ళు (vadiliveḷḷu)
• Tok Pisin: lusim
• Turkish: kovmak (tr)
• Vietnamese: xua đuổi (vi)
• Welsh: gadael (cy)

to no longer exercise a right, relinquish a claim to property

• Bulgarian: отказвам се от (otkazvam se ot)
• Dutch: afzien (van) (nl), afstand doen (van), terugnemen (nl)
• Fijian: biu-ta (fj)
• Finnish: luopua (fi), luovuttaa (fi)
• Hindi: परित्यागना (hi) (parityāgnā), त्याग देना (tyāg denā)
• Interlingua: renunciar, relinquer
• Irish: tabhair suas, lig ó
• Japanese: 明け渡す (akewatasu), 放棄する (ja) (hōki suru)
• Korean: 포기(抛棄)하다 (ko) (pogihada)

• Marathi: परित्याग करणे (parityāg karṇe)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: abandonere (no), avskrive

• Polish: wyrzec się (pl)
• Portuguese: renunciar (pt)
• Romanian: lepăda (ro), renunța (ro)
• Scottish Gaelic: thoir thairis
• Spanish: renunciar (es)
• Swedish: överlämna (sv)

to surrender to the insurer

• Finnish: luovuttaa (fi)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: abandonere (no)

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} изоставям (bg) (izostavjam), ^{(please verify)} напускам (bg) (napuskam)
• Cherokee: ^{(please verify)} ᏗᏲᎯᏗ (diyohidi)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} abandonar (io)

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} membiarkan (id), ^{(please verify)} menelantarkan (id), ^{(please verify)} mengabaikan (id)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 버리다 (ko) (beorida)
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} విడిచిపెట్టు (te) (viḍicipeṭṭu)
• Volapük: ^{(please verify)} klemön (vo), ^{(please verify)} lüvön (vo)

Etymology 2

• From French, from Old French abandon, from Old French abondonner.

Noun

abandon (countable and uncountable, plural abandons)

1. A yielding to natural impulses or inhibitions; freedom from artificial constraint, with loss of appreciation of consequences. [Early 19th century.]
   • 1954, Gore Vidal, Messiah:

     I envy those chroniclers who assert with reckless but sincere abandon: 'I was there. I saw it happen. It happened thus.'

   • 2007 November 4, David M. Halbfinger, “The City That Never Sleeps, Comatose”, in The New York Times‎^[3]:

     They needed to have an abandon in their performance that you just can’t get out of people in the middle of the night when they’re barefoot.

2. (obsolete) abandonment; relinquishment.

Synonyms

• (giving up to impulses): wantonness, unrestraint, libertinism, abandonment, profligacy, unconstraint

Translations

a giving up to natural impulses

• Danish: løssluppenhed c
• Dutch: ongedwongenheid f
• Esperanto: senĝeneco
• Finnish: huolettomuus (fi), riehakkuus (fi)
• German: Hingabe (de) f, Ungezwungenheit f, Selbstvergessenheit f
• Greek: εγκατάλειψη (el) f (egkatáleipsi)
• Italian: abbandono (it) m
• Japanese: 奔放自在 (honpōjizai), 自由奔放 (ja) (jiyūhonpō)

• Manx: lhiggey lesh m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: løssluppenhet m, overgivenhet m

• Persian: بی‌قیدی‎, بی‌خیالی‎
• Portuguese: abandono (pt) m
• Russian: ^{(please verify)} беззабо́тность (ru) f (bezzabótnostʹ), (to do with abandon) ^{(please verify)} за- + verb + -ся (za- + verb + -sja)
• Spanish: desenfreno (es) m
• Swedish: frigjordhet c, nonchalans (sv) c, otvungenhet (sv) c, hämningslöshet c

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} изоставяне (bg) n (izostavjane), ^{(please verify)} напускане (bg) n (napuskane)
• Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} напушта (napušta)

• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} (sự) phóng túng, ^{(please verify)} (sự) tự do, ^{(please verify)} (sự) buông thả
• Volapük: ^{(please verify)} klem (vo), ^{(please verify)} lüv (vo)

---

French

Etymology

From Old French (mettre) a bandon ("to deliver, place at someone's disposition", literally "to place in someone's power"). Gamillscheg suggests a derivation from a ban donner, but the Trésor de la langue française considers this unlikely, as the phrase is not attested.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.bɑ̃.dɔ̃/

• (France, Paris)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔ̃

Noun

abandon m (plural abandons)

1. surrender
2. abandonment
3. (uncountable) complete neglect

Derived terms

• abandon scolaire
• à l'abandon
• tour d'abandon

Descendants

• Norwegian Bokmål: abandon

Further reading

• “abandon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

---

Friulian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

abandon m (plural abandons)

1. abandonment

References

• ARLEF
• Dizionari Furlan Talian

---

Middle English

Alternative forms

• abandoun, abaundun

Etymology

From Old French abandon.

Adverb

abandon

1. (not comparable) Freely; entirely.
   • 1330, Arthour and Merlin:

     His ribbes and scholder fel adoun / Men might se the liver abandoun.

     His ribs and shoulder fell down / Men might see the liver entirely.

References

• “abandǒun, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

---

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From French abandon (“surrender, abandonment”), from Old French mettre a bandon (“to deliver, place at someone's disposition”), last part from Frankish *ban, *bann, from Proto-Germanic *bannaną (“to proclaim, command, summon, ban”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to speak, say”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /abaŋˈdɔŋ/, /abanˈdɔŋ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔŋ
• Hyphenation: a‧ban‧don

Noun

abandon m (definite singular abandonen, indefinite plural abandoner, definite plural abandonene)

1. (law) the right to, under certain circumstances, waive ownership of an insured ship or cargo to the insurer and claim compensation for total loss
2. (obsolete) indifference
   • 1917, Ludvig Daae, Paul Botten Hansen, page 64:

     [Botten Hansen] skrev med saa stor abandon, at mere end een troskyldig læser indigneredes paa hans vegne

     [Botten Hansen] wrote with such great abandon that more than one innocent reader was indignant on his behalf

   • 1992, Olaf Bull, Ild og skygger, page 101:

     den evige varme pludringen hos denne damen, med intelligente smaa «abandoner» i tanken, denne uendelige «bjerg- og dalbane» i tanken

     the eternal hot chatter of this lady, with intelligent little "abandons" in the tank, this endless "roller coaster" in the tank

Derived terms

• abandonere
• abandonfrist
• abandonrett

 

References

• “abandon” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

---

Polish

Etymology

From French abandon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈban.dɔn/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -andɔn
• Syllabification: a‧ban‧don

Noun

abandon m inan

1. (law, nautical) the legal waiving of rights to one's ship that has lost trade value

Declension

Declension of abandon

	singular
nominative	abandon
genitive	abandonu
dative	abandonowi
accusative	abandon
instrumental	abandonem
locative	abandonie
vocative	abandonie

Further reading

• abandon in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• abandon in Polish dictionaries at PWN

---

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French abandon.

Noun

abandon n (plural abandonuri)

1. abandonment
2. renouncement

Declension

Declension of abandon

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) abandon	abandonul	(niște) abandonuri	abandonurile
genitive/dative	(unui) abandon	abandonului	(unor) abandonuri	abandonurilor
vocative	abandonule		abandonurilor

Related terms

• abandona