abstain

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /əbˈsteɪn/ UK /əbˈsteɪn/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to restrain oneself from doing or partaking in something

He chose to abstain from alcohol for the whole of Lent.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to restrain oneself from... refrain forbear desist withhold forgo decline eschew

Opposites

indulge partake engage yield consume

Word family

Forms abstainerabstention

Derived forms abstainerabstentionabstinence

Related forms abstinence abstemious retain contain

Etymology

From Old French abstenir ('to hold back'), from Latin abstinēre ('to withhold'), from abs- ('away') + tenēre ('to hold').

abstinēre Latin tenēre Latin *ten- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# abstain

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /əbˈsteɪn/
**IPA (UK):** /əbˈsteɪn/

## Meanings
1. to restrain oneself from doing or partaking in something

## Examples
- He chose to abstain from alcohol for the whole of Lent.

## Synonyms
- refrain
- forbear
- desist
- withhold
- forgo
- decline
- eschew

## Antonyms
- indulge
- partake
- engage
- yield
- consume

## Derived Forms
- abstainer
- abstention
- abstinence

## Related Forms
- abstinence
- abstemious
- retain
- contain

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: abstinēre
- Root: tenēre
- Root: *ten-

## Etymology
From Old French abstenir ('to hold back'), from Latin abstinēre ('to withhold'), from abs- ('away') + tenēre ('to hold').

## AI Etymology
abstain comes from Old French abstenir ('to hold back'), from Latin abstinēre ('to withhold'), from abs- ('away') + tenēre ('to hold'). Morphologically, the word is transparent as a compound: its parts remain visible in the modern spelling, while the older history of those parts supplies the deeper ancestry. In modern use, the verb sense is "to restrain oneself from doing or partaking in something", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as abstinence, abstemious, retain, contain and derivatives such as abstainer, abstention, abstinence, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Latin abstinēre, Latin tenēre, Proto-Indo-European *ten-, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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