Dictionary

abstain

Pronunciation

Verb

abstain (abstains, present participle abstaining; past and past participle abstained)

(transitive, reflexive, obsolete) Keep or withhold oneself. [Attested from around 1350 to 1470 until the mid 16^th century.]
(intransitive) Refrain from (something or doing something); keep from doing, especially an indulgence. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
- 22 May 1948, United Nations, Security Council Resolution 49
  The Security Council […] calls upon all Governments and authorities, without prejudice to the rights, claims or positions of the parties concerned, to abstain from any hostile military action in Palestine and to that end to issue a cease-fire order to their military and paramilitary forces
(intransitive, obsolete) Fast not eat for a period. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
(intransitive) Deliberately refrain from casting one's vote at a meeting where one is present. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
(transitive, obsolete) Hinder; keep back; withhold. [Attested from the early 16^th century until the mid 17^th century.]

Conjugation

Conjugation of abstain

infinitive	(to) abstain
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	abstain	abstained
2nd-person singular	* abstain, abstainest^*	abstained, abstainedst*
3rd-person singular	abstains, abstaineth^*	abstained#English\|abstained
plural	abstain

subjunctive	abstain

imperative	abstain	—

participle> participles	abstaining	abstained
^* Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms

Related terms

Translations

Translations

Translations

This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.004