abolish
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
to officially end a law, a system, or a traditional way of doing things.
to formally and legally terminate a law, system, or social institution.
Simple“Many countries decided to abolish the death penalty in the last century.”
In context“The parliament voted overwhelmingly to abolish the outdated tax system, replacing it with a more equitable framework for small businesses.”
UsageThis verb is transitive and almost always takes an abstract noun like 'slavery', 'tax', or 'law' as its object.
PitfallThe government abolished the old building. The government demolished the old building.You abolish laws or systems, but you demolish or destroy physical objects like buildings.
- 02 C2 Proficiency
to completely destroy or wipe something out.
to destroy, annihilate, or reduce to nothing.
Simple“The ancient city was abolished by the fire until nothing remained.”
In context“The commander sought to abolish every trace of the rebellion, ensuring that no record of the uprising would survive for future generations.”
Teacher's tipThis physical sense is archaic; modern speakers use 'destroy' or 'demolish' for physical objects.
Synonyms
“Cricket | Joe Root has abolished the midnight curfew for his England Test side, telling his players to “be adults” after a string of late-night incidents.”
“Although IPP sentences were abolished in 2012, the change was not retrospective, and more than 2,200 people remain in prison despite having served many years beyond their minimum tariff.”
The word enters late Middle English as abolisshen, appearing by way of the Middle French aboliss-, which served as the extended stem for the verb abolir. This French form traces back to the Latin abolēre, a term originally concerned with retarding or checking the growth of an object before its eventual destruction. This was linked to the inchoative abolēscere, describing the process by which something might wither, vanish, or simply cease to be. One might say the word's journey mimics its meaning, moving from a mere hesitation in development to a complete and final removal from the records.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.