Abandoners

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals that leave or forsake someone or something, often without regard for the consequences it may cause
2. People who intentionally give up their responsibility towards a person, place, or thing, thereby creating a vacuum of support or care
3. Those who desert a person, place, or cause, stopping their involvement or care

Etymology: The plural of "abandoners" is simply "abandoner" plus the regular plural "-s", so the interesting history lies in the stem. The root is the verb "abandon", which came into English in the Middle English period from Old French "abandoner", literally "to give over to someone's control". That French verb was built from "a ban", meaning "under the ban" or "under the authority of", combined with "donner", "to give". So the original sense was handing something over to another's power, with no sense of desertion at all. The modern meaning of "abandon" developed from that idea of giving something up, and the English suffix "-er" was added to form a noun for a person who does the action. The suffix itself came into English from Old English "-ere", which marked an agent, so the word combines a French verb with an Old English ending.

Synonyms: deserters, forsakers, quitters, leavers, renouncers

Antonyms: adherents, supporters, loyalists, devotees, committed