Abolish

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /əˈbɒlɪʃ/

Definitions

1. To formally put an end to a system, practice, or institution, especially by law or official decree
2. to formally eliminate or do away with a system, practice, or institution through official action or legal authority
3. to officially bring to an end or completely remove a custom, law, or established practice from use

Etymology: The verb "abolish" has a Latin ancestor whose literal sense was closer to withering than to destroying. Latin "abolēre" meant "to check the growth of," and by extension "to destroy," while the related "abolēscere" meant "to wither, vanish, cease." The image is of something fading away from lack of nourishment rather than being torn down by force, a nuance that the English word has largely lost. The Latin verb passed into Middle French as "abolir," and English borrowed the form in the late Middle Ages, when it appeared as "abolisshen." The word arrived already carrying the idea of formally ending something, and that sense of official cancellation is what it has kept ever since.

Synonyms: eliminate, terminate, annul, revoke, eradicate

Antonyms: establish, create, introduce