desuetude

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desuetude

/ˈdɛswɪtjuːd/ UK
/dɪˈs(j)uːɪtjuːd/ UK
/-tʃuːd/ UK
/ˈdɛswəˌt(j)ud/ US
/dəˈsuəˌtud/ US

Where it comes from

From Late Middle English desuetude, dissuetude (“discontinuance of a practice, disuse”), from Middle French désuétude (“obsolescence”) (modern French désuétude), from Latin dēsuētūdo (“discontinuance of a practice or a habit, disuse”), from dēsuētus + -tūdō (“suffix forming abstract nouns indicating conditions or states”). Dēsuētus is the perfect passive participle of dēsuēscō (“to make unaccustomed”), from de- (prefix having a reversing or undoing effect) + suēscō (“to become accustomed or used to; (Late Latin) to accustom, habituate, train”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“self”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”), in the sense “to set as one’s own”).

noun desuetudes

formal, uncountable The state when something (for example, a custom or a law) is no longer observed nor practised; disuse, obsolescence. And they being in a capacity to forget by reaſon of deſuetude, it will be a nevv pleaſure to them to recall to minde their almoſt obliterate ſpeculations.
Similar: disuse, inusitation, obsoleteness, desuetude, disusage, obsolescence, obsoletion, superannuation, unuse
countable, formal An instance of this. Owing, I will believe, to Fred's sudden flurry in the unprovided moment,—unprovided, by reason of prior desuetudes and discouragements to speech, on Papa's side.
Similar: disuse, inusitation, obsoleteness, desuetude, disusage, obsolescence, obsoletion, superannuation, unuse
countable, formal, obsolete Chiefly followed by from or of: a cessation of practising or using something. [T]he beſt Chriſtians, and (vvitneſs David) the greateſt Proficients in Scripture-Knovvledge, have the keeneſt Stomacks to this Food of Souls; and the vigorouſeſt Piety, by a Deſuetude and Neglect of it, is ſubject to Faint and Pine avvay.

Translations

Every language

noun state when something is no longer observed nor practised; an instance of this — see also disuse, obsolescence

Español	desuetud, desuso
日本語	廃止 haishi
中文	廢止 /废止 fèizhǐ
Português	dessuetude, desuso
Français	désuétude, abandon, oubli
Italiano	desuetudine, disuso

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{desuetude_2026,
  title = {desuetude},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/desuetude},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}