a·bate  ( ə-b āt )
Share:
v. a·bat·ed, a·bat·ing, a·bates v.tr.1. To reduce in amount, degree, or intensity; lessen: a program to abate air pollution. 2. Law a. To put an end to: The court ordered that the nuisance of the wrecked vehicle in the front yard be abated. b. To make void: The judge abated the lawsuit. c. To reduce for some period of time: The town abated the taxes on buildings of historical importance for three years. v.intr.1. To fall off in degree or intensity; subside: waiting for the rain to abate. See Synonyms at decrease. 2. Law a. To become void. b. To become reduced for a period of time.
[Middle English abaten, from Old French abattre, to beat down : a-, to (from Latin ad-; see AD-) + batre, to beat; see BATTER1.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
Indo-European Roots
Semitic Roots
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
This website is best viewed in Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. Some characters in pronunciations and etymologies cannot be displayed properly in Internet Explorer.