Join free

abstention

English · Français

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

abstention

  • /əbˈstɛn.ʃn̩/ UK
  • /æbˈstɛn.ʃn̩/ US
  • /əbˈstɛn.ʃn̩/ US
  • /æbˈstɛn.t͡ʃn̩/ US
  • /əbˈstɛn.t͡ʃn̩/ US

Where it comes from

First attested in 1521. Borrowed from French abstention, from Late Latin abstēntiō from Latin abstinēō (“withhold, to abstain”)

noun abstentions

  1. countable, obsolete, uncountable The act of restraining oneself.
  2. countable, uncountable The act of abstaining or refraining (from). abstention from alcohol
  3. countable, uncountable The act of declining to vote on a particular issue. There were five abstentions in the vote.
  4. countable, uncountable Non-participation in the political world; as a country avoiding international affairs.

Translations

Every language

noun the act of abstaining

Españolabstención
日本語慎むこと tsutsushimu koto, 禁酒 kinshu, 棄権 kiken, 不参加 fusanka
中文棄權 /弃权 qìquán, 戒除 jièchú, 戒酒 jièjiǔ, 禁酒 jìnjiǔ
Portuguêsabstenção
Françaisabstention
DeutschEnthaltung, Abstandnehmen
Italianoastensione
Românăabținere
Русскийвоздержа́ние vozderžánije, возде́ржанность vozdéržannostʹ
العربيةاِمْتِنَاع imtināʕ, إِمْسَاك ʔimsāk
עבריתהִמָּנְעוּת himanʿut

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"abstention." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/abstention. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

abstention. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/abstention

Chicago

"abstention." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/abstention.

BibTeX
@misc{abstention_2026,
  title = {abstention},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/abstention},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}