abandon

[əˈbæn.dən]

[əˈbæn.dn̩]

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An abandonment is when something or someone is left alone and forgotten.

When people talk about abandoning something, they usually mean quitting it altogether - stopping a project, leaving a place without going back, giving up on an idea. You might hear someone say "I abandoned my diet" meaning they stopped following their eating plan. Or "We abandoned the hike because of bad weather." It's like when you were excited about doing something and then just lost interest or found it too hard to continue - that's basically what abandoning means.

How common is "abandon"?

Word abandon is considered uncommon in modern English.
It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.

Definitions

verb

To give up or relinquish control of, to surrender or to give oneself over, or to yield to one's emotions.
To desist in doing, practicing, following, holding, or adhering to; to turn away from; to permit to lapse; to renounce; to discontinue.
To leave behind; to desert as in a ship or a position, typically in response to overwhelming odds or impending dangers; to forsake, in spite of a duty or responsibility.
Example: Many baby girls have been abandoned on the streets of Beijing.
To subdue; to take control of.
To cast out; to banish; to expel; to reject.
To no longer exercise a right, title, or interest, especially with no interest of reclaiming it again; to yield; to relinquish.
To surrender to the insurer (an insured item), so as to claim a total loss.