Dictionary

abate en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /əˈbeət/ Lincolnshire
• (General-American) audio
• /əˈbeɪt/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• (Canada) audio

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman abatre, probably an alteration of Anglo-Norman and Middle French embatre, enbatre (“to drive or rush into; to enter into a tenement without permission”) (compare Late Latin abatare), from Middle French, Old French em-, en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’) + Middle French, Old French batre (“to beat, hit, strike”) (from Latin battere, battuere, the present active infinitive of battuō (“to beat, hit; to beat up; to fight”); see further at etymology 1). The English word was probably also influenced by the verb abate.

Meanings

1. (ambitransitive, historical, obsolete) To enter upon and unlawfully seize (land) after the owner has died, thus preventing an heir from taking possession of it.
   • So, if Lands be given to Father and Son, and to the heirs of their two bodies begotten, the remainder over in fee, and afterwards the Father dieth without any Iſſue but the Son, and afterwards the Son dieth without Iſſue, and a Stranger abateth, he in the remainder ſhall have one Formedon in the remainder, although the Eſtate tails were ſeveral, […] 1680, Edward Coke, “Mich. 7 Jacobi. In the Common Pleas. Buckmere’s Case.”, in The Reports of Sir Edward Coke, Kt. […], 2nd edition, London: […] H. Twyford, […], →OCLC, part VI, pages 570–571:

Forms

Antonyms

ramp up · build · intensify · wax · intensen · escalate

Hypernyms

decrease

Hyponyms

trail off · pine · wither · languish

Relateds

waste · wear · soften

Synonyms

fall off · dwindle · decline · wanse · subside · tail off · die away · gutter out · fade out · peter out · tail away · wane · abate · ebb · fade away · fall away · drop off · melt away · slip away · peter · spin down · slacken · taper off