abstention

First attested in 1521. Borrowed from French abstention, from Late Latin abstēntiō from Latin abstinēō (“withhold, to abstain”)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əbˈstɛn.ʃn̩/
• (US) IPA^(key): /æbˈstɛn.ʃn̩/, /əbˈstɛn.ʃn̩/, /æbˈstɛn.t͡ʃn̩/, /əbˈstɛn.t͡ʃn̩/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

abstention (countable and uncountable, plural abstentions)

1. (obsolete) The act of restraining oneself. [Attested from the early 16^th century until the med 17^th century.]
2. The act of abstaining or refraining (from). [First attested in the early 17^th century.]

   abstention from alcohol

   abstention from sex

3. The act of declining to vote on a particular issue. [First attested in the late 19^th century.]

   There were five abstentions in the vote.

4. Non-participation in the political world; as a country avoiding international affairs.

• abstinence

• Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abstention”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 9.

Borrowed from Late Latin abstentiōnem, from Latin abstentus, from abstineō.

• IPA^(key): /ap.stɑ̃.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

abstention f (plural abstentions)

1. abstention

• abstenir
• abstinence

• → English: abstention

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