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“abstain”
abstain (verb), abstains; abstained; abstaining
1. Choosing not to do or to have something: "Clarence is abstaining from taking part in the discussion."
2. The process of choosing not to vote: "Some members of the committee were not voting for the proposal; six members were voting against it and two were abstaining."
3. To hold oneself back or to voluntarily do without something; to refrain from doing something: "It is a struggle to abstain from eating a large slice of chocolate birthday cake."
2. The process of choosing not to vote: "Some members of the committee were not voting for the proposal; six members were voting against it and two were abstaining."
3. To hold oneself back or to voluntarily do without something; to refrain from doing something: "It is a struggle to abstain from eating a large slice of chocolate birthday cake."
This entry is located in the following units:
a-, ab-, abs-
(page 13)
ten-, tent-, tin-, -tain, -tainment, -tenance, -tinence
(page 1)
abstain, abstemious
abstain (ab STAYN, uhb STAYN) (verb)
1. To refrain from something by one's own choice: "Congressman Adrian Tyler promised to abstain from traditional political rhetoric."
2. To refrain from voting: "Forty-five senators voted in favor of the new health bill, forty-five voted against it, and twenty-five decided to abstain."
2. To refrain from voting: "Forty-five senators voted in favor of the new health bill, forty-five voted against it, and twenty-five decided to abstain."
abstemious (ab STEE mee uhs, uhb STEE mee uhs) (verb)
Marked by restraint especially in the consumption of food or alcohol: "Emily's mother was known as an abstemious eater and drinker who always had healthy meals for her family."
"Diana's midlife heart attack made her realize the importance of taking care of her body and turned her toward a more abstemious and healthful lifestyle."
The terms abstain and abstemious seem to have similar formats and both have meanings involving "self-restraint" or "self-denial".
Although they may appear to come from the same root and both of them start with the Latin prefix abs-, meaning "from" or "away"; abstain is traced back to abs- plus the Latin verb tenēre, "to hold"; while abstemious gets its -temious from a suffix related to the Latin noun temetum, "intoxicating drink".
This entry is located in the following units:
Confusing Words Clarified: Group A; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc. +
(page 1)
ten-, tent-, tin-, -tain, -tainment, -tenance, -tinence
(page 1)
Word Entries at Get Words:
“abstain”
abstain (ab STAYN, uhb STAYN) (verb), abstains; abstained; abstaining
To refrain from something by one's own choice or voluntarily: "The final vote on the motion in the House of Representatives had a majority in favor of the bill; however, the rest of the Representatives abstained."
From Latin abs-, "from" + tenere, "to hold".
This entry is located in the following unit:
English Words in Action, Group A +
(page 4)