Abandons

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To leave a person or thing without a plan to come back; to yield one's rights or ownership, often implying a voluntary relinquishment; to discontinue care or attention, signaling a possible lack of concern for the individual or object involved
2. To forsake someone or something, departing without plans to come back
3. To give up on someone or something by leaving it completely and not resuming responsibility

Etymology: "Abandons" is the third-person singular present form of "abandon," so it describes someone or something doing the leaving, as in "she abandons the project." The verb itself traces back to Old French "abandoner," formed from "a" (meaning "at" or "to") and "bandon," a word for jurisdiction or control. That "bandon" came from Late Latin "bannum," a proclamation, and ultimately from a Frankish word "ban" that meant to proclaim or command. The English ban, meaning an official prohibition, belongs to the same family. The original sense was therefore closer to giving something up to another's authority than to simply walking away. To abandon something was to put it under someone else's control, and the idea of leaving it behind developed from that. English adopted the word in the Middle English period, when it appeared as "abandounen," and it displaced older verbs such as "forleten," which came from Old English "forlǣtan" and meant to let go or leave behind.

Synonyms: deserts, forsakes, relinquishes, gives up, leaves

Antonyms: retains, maintains, keeps