Added 4 October 2026
abandon
/əˈbæn.dən/ verb
In Latin: relinquō Wiktionary
verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about abandon at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- To give up or relinquish control of, to surrender or to give oneself over, or to yield to one's emotions. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
- To desist in doing, practicing, following, holding, or adhering to; to turn away from; to permit to lapse; to renounce; to discontinue.
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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.
Many baby girls have been abandoned on the streets of Beijing.
noun
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A yielding to natural impulses or inhibitions; freedom from artificial constraint, with loss of appreciation of consequences.
with gay abandon, with wild abandon, with reckless abandon
- Abandonment; relinquishment.
Origin
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”) (whence 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. Compare typologically abdicate, Russian отказа́ться (otkazátʹsja) (akin to приказа́ть (prikazátʹ), сказа́ть (skazátʹ), указа́ть (ukazátʹ)).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)