abstinent, a. and n.
(ˈæbstɪnənt)
[a. Fr. abstinent, refashioned on OFr. astenant:—L. abstinent-em, pr. pple. of abstinē-re: see abstain.]
A. adj. Holding back or refraining; esp. from indulgence of appetite; continent, abstemious, temperate.
| c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. 873 Abstinent in etyng and drynkyng, in speche and in dede. c 1440 Prompt. Parv. Abstynent, or absteynynge. 1588 A. King Canisius' Catech. 132 b, Bot he, quha is abstinent, sal prolonge his lyf. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Morals 651 And he againe, who is too too sober, and abstinent altogether, becommeth unpleasant and unsociable. 1713 Guardian (1756) I. 16 She has passed several years in widowhood with that abstinent enjoyment of life, which has done honour to her deceased husband. 1867 J. Martineau Chr. Life (ed. 4) 84 What abstinent integrity is..demanded by many a master. |
B. n. One who abstains, an abstainer, a faster. In Eccl. Hist. the Abstinents were a sect who appeared in the 3rd century.
| c 1440 Prompt. Parv. Abstynent..or he that dothe abstynence. 1615 Chapman Odyssey xvii. 381 And this same harmful belly by no mean The greatest abstinent can ever wean. 1669 J. Reynolds Disc. in Harl. Misc. (1745) iv. 48 Some of these Abstinents were of melancholick complexions. 1753 Chambers Cyc. Suppl. s.v., Some represent the Abstinentes..that they particularly enjoined abstinence from the use of marriage; others say, from flesh; and others, from wine. 1860 All Y. Round No. 64. 322 There is also [in China] a female sect called the Abstinents..who make a vow to abstain from everything that has enjoyed life, and to eat nothing but vegetables. |