Adjacent Words

Abolish definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ABOL'ISH, v.t. [L. abolco; from ab and oleo, olesco, to grow.]
1. To make void; to annul; to abrogate; applied chiefly and appropriately to established laws, contracts, rites, customs and institutions - as to abolish laws by a repeal, actual or virtual.
2. To destroy, or put an end to; as to abolish idols. Isaiah 2. To abolish death 2 Timothy 1. This sense is not common. To abolish posterity, in the translation of Pausanias, Lib. 3. Song 6, is hardly allowable.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: do away with; "Slavery was abolished in the mid-19th century in America and in Russia" [syn: abolish, get rid of] [ant: establish, found, launch, set up]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb Etymology: Middle English abolisshen, from Middle French aboliss-, stem of abolir, from Latin abol?re; probably akin to adolescere to grow up — more at adult Date: 15th century 1. to end the observance or effect of ; annul <abolish a law> <abolish slavery> 2. destroy • abolishable adjective • abolisher noun • abolishment noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. put an end to the existence or practice of (esp. a custom or institution). Derivatives: abolishable adj. abolisher n. abolishment n. Etymology: ME f. F abolir f. L abolere destroy

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Abolish A*bol"ish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abolished; p. pr. & vb. n. Abolishing.] [F. abolir, L. abolere, aboletum; ab + olere to grow. Cf. Finish.] 1. To do away with wholly; to annul; to make void; -- said of laws, customs, institutions, governments, etc.; as, to abolish slavery, to abolish folly. 2. To put an end to, or destroy, as a physical objects; to wipe out. [Archaic] And with thy blood abolish so reproachful blot. --Spenser. His quick instinctive hand Caught at the hilt, as to abolish him. --Tennyson. Syn: To Abolish, Repeal, Abrogate, Revoke, Annul, Nullify, Cancel. Usage: These words have in common the idea of setting aside by some overruling act. Abolish applies particularly to things of a permanent nature, such as institutions, usages, customs, etc.; as, to abolish monopolies, serfdom, slavery. Repeal describes the act by which the legislature of a state sets aside a law which it had previously enacted. Abrogate was originally applied to the repeal of a law by the Roman people; and hence, when the power of making laws was usurped by the emperors, the term was applied to their act of setting aside the laws. Thus it came to express that act by which a sovereign or an executive government sets aside laws, ordinances, regulations, treaties, conventions, etc. Revoke denotes the act of recalling some previous grant which conferred, privilege, etc.; as, to revoke a decree, to revoke a power of attorney, a promise, etc. Thus, also, we speak of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Annul is used in a more general sense, denoting simply to make void; as, to annul a contract, to annul an agreement. Nullify is an old word revived in this country, and applied to the setting of things aside either by force or by total disregard; as, to nullify an act of Congress. Cancel is to strike out or annul, by a deliberate exercise of power, something which has operative force.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(abolishes, abolishing, abolished) If someone in authority abolishes a system or practice, they formally put an end to it. The following year Parliament voted to abolish the death penalty for murder... VERB: V n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-bol'-ish (chathath, "to be broken down," "made void," "My righteousness shall not be abolished" (Isa 51:6), i.e. as shown in God's faithfulness to His promises; machah, "to erase," "blot out," "that your works may be abolished" (Eze 6:6) katargeo, "to render inoperative," "bring to nought," "make of no effect," "when he shall have abolished all rule" (1Co 15:24), every power opposed to God's kingdom; "having abolished in his flesh the enmity" (Eph 2:15)): By His death, Christ did away with the race separation due to historic ordinances and ceremonial laws (as of circumcision and uncircumcision); through the cross He wrought the reconciliation, and secured that common access to the Father by which the union is maintained.

"Our Saviour Christ Jesus .... abolished death" (2Ti 1:10). Men still die, "it is appointed unto men" (Heb 9:27), but the fear of death as having power to terminate or affect our personal existence and our union with God, as a dreadful stepping out into the unknown and unknowable (into Sheol of the impenetrable gloom), and as introducing us to a final and irreversible judgment, has been removed. Christ has taken out of it its sting (1Co 15:55 f) and all its hurtful power (Heb 2:14); has shown it to be under His control (Re 1:18), brought to light the incorruptible life beyond, and declared the ultimate destruction of death (1Co 15:26; compare Re 20:14). The Greek (katargeitai) indicates that the process of destruction was then going on.

M. O. Evans

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Abrogate, annul, disannul, repeal, rescind, revoke, cancel, nullify, quash, vacate, invalidate, set aside, make void. 2. Destroy, overthrow, subvert, obliterate, extirpate, eradicate, annihilate, extinguish, suppress, do away, put an end to, make an end of, batter down, raze to the ground, not to leave one stone upon another, crush out, stamp out, squelch (colloq.). See disestablish.

Moby Thesaurus

abate, abrogate, annihilate, annul, blot out, bring to naught, cancel, countermand, counterorder, delete, demolish, deracinate, destroy, disallow, disannul, do away with, eliminate, end, eradicate, erase, expunge, exterminate, extinguish, extirpate, invalidate, liquidate, make void, negate, negative, nullify, obliterate, override, overrule, quash, recall, recant, renege, repeal, rescind, retract, reverse, revoke, root out, set aside, stamp out, suspend, terminate, undo, uproot, vacate, vitiate, void, waive, wipe out, withdraw, write off