Dictionary

avoidance en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /əˈvɔɪdəns/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English avoidaunce, from avoid + -ance.

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) The act of avoiding or shunning; keeping clear of.
   • At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy ; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum. 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
2. (obsolete, uncountable, usually) The act of annulling; annulment.
3. (obsolete, uncountable, usually) The act of becoming vacant, or the state of being vacant, specifically used for the state of a benefice becoming void by the death, deprivation, or resignation of the incumbent.
4. (obsolete, uncountable, usually) The act of dismissing a person.
5. (obsolete, uncountable, usually) The act of quitting a position or benefice.
6. (obsolete, uncountable, usually) The course by which anything (especially water) is carried off.
   • In the Upper Gallery too I wish that there may be, if the Place will yield it, some Fountains running in divers Places from the Wall, with some fine Avoidances. a. 1626, Francis Bacon, “XLV. Of Building”, in The essays, or councils, civil and moral […] with a table of the colours of good and evil, and a discourse of The wisdom of the ancients, published 1696, page 122:

Forms

Deriveds

avoidance speech · nonavoidance · zone of avoidance · anti-avoidance · photoavoidance · cost avoidance · taboo avoidance · tax avoidance · isoneuronal avoidance · avoision · chemoavoidance

Synonyms

shunning · discommendation · petalism · silent treatment · silent treatment · avoidance · ostracism · blackballing · shunning · discommendation · ostracization · blacklisting

Translations (38)

nb unngåelse (The act of avoiding or shunning) · ja 取り消し (The act of annulling) · hu elkerülés (The act of avoiding or shunning) · bg анулиране (The act of annulling) · es evitación (The act of avoiding or shunning) · ga seachaint (The act of avoiding or shunning) · es anulación (The act of annulling) · eo evito (The act of avoiding or shunning) · bg оттегляне (A dismissing or a quitting; removal; withdrawal.) · el ακύρωση (The act of annulling) · el απομάκρυνση (A dismissing or a quitting; removal; withdrawal.) · nl vermijden (The act of avoiding or shunning) · bg отменяне (The act of annulling) · cy osgoi (The act of avoiding or shunning) · pt evitamento (The act of avoiding or shunning) · fi välttäminen (The act of avoiding or shunning) · fr évitement (The act of avoiding or shunning) · sw ukwepaji (The act of avoiding or shunning) · fi karttaminen (The act of avoiding or shunning) · el αποφυγή (The act of avoiding or shunning) · it rimozione (A dismissing or a quitting; removal; withdrawal.) · bg избягване (The act of avoiding or shunning) · sv undvikande (The act of avoiding or shunning) · bg касиране (A dismissing or a quitting; removal; withdrawal.) · bg отбягване (The act of avoiding or shunning) · ja 撤回 (The act of annulling) · ar تَجَنُّب (The act of avoiding or shunning) · es abstinencia (A dismissing or a quitting; removal; withdrawal.) · it prevenzione (The act of avoiding or shunning) · de Vermeidung (The act of avoiding or shunning) · it elusione (The act of avoiding or shunning) · ca evitació (The act of avoiding or shunning) · pt evitação (The act of avoiding or shunning) · da undgåelse (The act of avoiding or shunning) · ja 回避 (The act of avoiding or shunning) · es evasión (A dismissing or a quitting; removal; withdrawal.) · pt evasão (The act of avoiding or shunning) · it annullamento (The act of annulling)