"Bryan will abridge his original speech from five pages to just one page."
2. To make shorter in words, while retaining the sense and substance of the written text; to condense, to epitomize: "The book was abridged to a more readable length."3. To produce by shortening from a larger work to a condensed form: "The mayor agreed to abridge his comments to accommodate the featured speaker's schedule."
4. To curtail, to lessen, to diminish rights, privileges, advantages, or authority: "No one should be able to abridge your legal rights."
"Taking a shortcut in the city abridges the time we need to get to the city in time for the concert."
"The doctor is abridging his discussion about the operation because the audience appears to be tired or bored."
5. Etymology: from Middle English abregen and Old French abregier, abreger, "to shorten"; from Latin abbreviare, "abbreviate"; from Latin ab-, "from, away from" or ad-, "to, toward, addition to" + breviare, "to shorten"; and from brevis, "short".Abridge and abbreviate both carry the idea of shortening so that what remains adequately represents the whole.
To abridge suggests the cutting away of nonessentials while retaining the core. To abbreviate, generally used in reference to words or phrases, implies shortening by the compression or omission of parts, the remainder standing for the whole: to abridge a novel for its inclusion in a magazine; the abbreviated name of an advertising agency.
There are some disagreements among lexicographers regarding which prefix should be used; so, some dictionaries don't bother to indicate a prefix.
One source, The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology, presents the following: abridge, about 1303, abregen, "curtail, lessen", borrowed from Old French abregier or abreger, from Late Latin abbreviare, "to make brief".
Then The American Heritage Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary indicates that abridge comes from Middle English abregen, from Old French abregier, from Late Latin abbreviare, to ABBREVIATE.
It then says that the etymology of abbreviate is from Middle English abbreviaten, from Late Latin abbreviare, "to shorten": ab-, "off", or ad-, "toward" + brevis, "short".
So, which of the sources is correct? It appears that the American Heritage Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary took the easy way out by writing that abridge comes from ab-, "off", or ad-, "toward" + brevis, "short"; and this version is essentially shown above in #5, which is the Etymology entry.
2. To cut short; to curtail; to shorten, especially by employing fewer words: "Within the past few years, publishers have found it necessary to abridge many classics in order to attract a greater reading public."
From Latin ad-, "to" or ab-, "away from" + breviare, "to shorten".