Dictionary

abridgment en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /əˈbɹɪd͡ʒ.mənt/ (US)

Etymology

First attested in 1494. From Middle English abrygement, from Middle French abrégement. Equivalent to abridge + -ment.

Meanings

1. (US, countable, uncountable) The act of abridging; reduction or deprivation
   • an abridgment of pleasures or of expenses
2. (US, countable, uncountable) The state of being abridged or lessened.
3. (US, countable, uncountable) An epitome or compend, as of a book; a shortened or abridged form; an abbreviation.
   • When the goal is simply to be as faithful as possible to the material—as if a movie were a marriage, and a rights contract the vow—the best result is a skillful abridgment, one that hits all the important marks without losing anything egregious. 2012 March 22, Scott Tobias, “The Hunger Games”, in AV Club:
   • The article which embodied my researches having proved somewhat too long for its purpose, an abridgment of it only was inserted in the Encyclopædia. 1910, James George Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, volume 1, page viii:
4. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) That which abridges or cuts short; hence, an entertainment that makes the time pass quickly
   • What abridgment have you for this evening? What masque? what music? 1605, Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, V-i:
5. (countable, dated, uncountable) Any of various brief statements of case law made before modern reporting of legal cases.
6. (countable, uncountable) The leaving out of certain portions of a plaintiff's demand, the writ still holding good for the remainder.

Forms

Deriveds

nonabridgment

Relateds

abridge

Synonyms

précis (act of abridging) · epitome (act of abridging) · diminution · shortening · abstract (act of abridging) · compendium (act of abridging) · lessening · synopsis (act of abridging)

Translations (44)

fi vähennys (act of abridging) · fi lyhentyminen (state of being abridged) · ja 縮小 (state of being abridged) · nb abstrakt (shortened version) · grc ἐπιτομή (shortened version) · gd giorrachadh (shortened version) · pt resumo (shortened version) · nl ingekorte versie (state of being abridged) · nl excerpt (shortened version) · de Kürzung (act of abridging) · nb konsentrat (shortened version) · de Verkürzen (act of abridging) · pt abreviação (shortened version) · de Kurzfassung (shortened version) · la breviārium (shortened version) · de Kurzform (shortened version) · de Schneiden (act of abridging) · gd giorrachadh (state of being abridged) · bg скъся́ване (shortened version) · de Verkürzung (act of abridging) · de Auszug (shortened version) · pt abreviação (act of abridging) · ja 要約 (shortened version) · es compendio (shortened version) · nb sammendrag (shortened version) · bg съкраще́ние (state of being abridged) · pt resumo (act of abridging) · pt resumo (state of being abridged) · fi lyhennys (act of abridging) · fr raccourcissement (act of abridging) · de Kürzen (act of abridging) · gd giorrachadh (act of abridging) · nb oppsummering (shortened version) · de Beschneiden (act of abridging) · fi vähentyminen (state of being abridged) · bg съкраще́ние (shortened version) · es versión abreviada (shortened version) · nl bekorting (act of abridging) · bg скъсяване (act of abridging) · bg резюме́ (shortened version) · nl verkorting (act of abridging) · bg съкращаване (act of abridging) · nb referat (shortened version) · bg скъся́ване (state of being abridged)