Added 5 October 2026

abandonment

/əˈbæn.d(ə)n.m(ə)nt/ noun

Latin root: bandum Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about abandonment at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

The act of abandoning, or the state of being abandoned; total desertion; relinquishment. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
The voluntary leaving of a person to whom one is bound by a special relation, as a wife, husband or child; desertion.
Since he left her, she's suing him for divorce on grounds of abandonment.
An abandoned building or structure.
High-profile abandonments are harder to infiltrate for urban explorers due to their heightened security.

Borrowed from French abandonnement, from abandonner (“to abandon, relinquish”). abandonner was originally equivalent to mettre à bandon (“to leave to the jurisdiction, i.e. of another”), bandon being from Medieval Latin bandum, bannum (“order, decree, ban”). Equivalent to abandon + -ment. (See also English banns.)