abstain, v.
(æbˈsteɪn)
Forms: 4–5 abstene, 4–6 absteyn(e, -ein(e, 6 asteine, 6–7 abstayne, abstaine, 7– abstain.
[a. Fr. absteni-r, a 14th c. refashioning of OFr. asteni-r (whence occ. Eng. asteine):—L. abstinē-re to withhold, f. abs = ab off, away from + tenē-re to hold. The Fr. (like the Eng. originally) is only reflexive, s'abstenir, L. se abstinēre to keep oneself from, refrain from.]
† 1. refl. To keep or withhold oneself. Const. of, from. Obs.
| c 1380 Sir Ferumbras 3761 In herte hur gan to greue. of wepyng ne miȝt sche abstene hur noȝt. 1382 Wyclif 1 Cor. ix. 25 Ech man that stryueth in fyȝt, absteyneth him fro alle thingis. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour ij. b, To kepe trewly her maryage and also absteyne her of synne. c 1500 Lancelot of the Laik 1261 My consell is, therfore, you to absten. 1535 Coverdale Acts xv. 20 Wryte vnto them that they absteyne them selues from fylthynesse of Idols. |
2. intr. (by gradual suppression of the pron. object.) To keep or withhold oneself, to refrain. Const. from (of obs.)
| 1382 Wyclif Num. vi. 3 Fro al that may make dronkun, thei shulen absteyne. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xiv. 78 Y must here therof abstene and forber. 1538 Starkey England. 17 To absteyn from flesch apon the Fryday..ys now reputyd a certayn vertue. 1598 Barret Theor. of War. v. v. 165 To absteine from committing these excesses. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 748 Our Maker bids increase; who bids abstain But our destroyer, foe to God and man? 1746 Col. Records Penn. V. 50 That they do abstain from all servile Labour on that Day. 1798 Ferriar Illustr. of Sterne ii. 38 D'Aubigné was so fond of writing epigrams, that he could not abstain from them. 1860 Tyndall Glaciers i. §3. 26 I therefore abstained from mentioning it subsequently. |
b. To refrain from voting. Hence without const., not to use one's vote.
| 1885 A. W. Peel in Hansard Commons 12 May 342, I should recommend each Member to be guided by his own feelings in the matter, and to vote or abstain from voting as he thinks fit. 1931 Daily Mirror 9 Sept. 3/1 Three Socialists abstained—Miss Picton Turberville, Mr. Strauss and Sir Norman Angell. 1931 Economist 12 Sept. 466/2 Sir Oswald and the small group which supports him abstained from the lobby. 1946 W. S. Churchill Victory 93 You felt it necessary on account of your convictions to abstain from the division about Poland. 1959 P. G. Richards Honourable Members vi. 147 In November, 1954, the Parliamentary Labour Party decided to abstain on the vote ratifying the London and Paris agreements. 1965 A. J. P. Taylor Eng. Hist. 1914–45 viii. 281 Time and again, the Liberals split three ways—some voting with the government, some against, the rest abstaining. 1984 Times 11 July 1/1 About 25 Conservative MPs abstained at the end of a Commons debate last night. |
3. esp. (being used most frequently in reference to eating and drinking). To refrain from food, to fast (obs.); to refrain from the use of alcoholic beverages, to be a ‘total-abstainer.’
| 1534 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. of M. Aurel. (1546) d. iij, If he be temperate and moderate, all wil absteyne. 1547 Boorde Brev. of Health i. 7 Many men wolde eate meate if they had it, and therfor nolens volens, they do asteine. 1867 B. Nicols in Cleric. Testy. to Tot. Abs. 98 Several have told me..that while they had abstained, some for weeks or months, they were far better in every respect than while they drank. |
† 4. trans. (later and rare, and probably a literary imitation of the trans. use of L. abstinere). To keep back, keep off.
| 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) II. 275 From outwarde thynges his mynde doth he abstayne. 1534 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) H ij b, For a small season the louer maie absteyne his loue. 1645 Milton Tetrach. (1851) 154 For what difference at all whether he abstain men from marying, or restraine them in a mariage hapning totally discommodious. 1644–58 J. Cleveland Gen. Poems (1677) 140 My Lord doth justly abstain his hand from his Dispatch. |