Eschewal

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The practice of deliberately abstaining from participation or involvement in certain issues or activities is observed in various contexts
2. A purposeful choice made to avoid engagement with specific matters illustrates a form of selective avoidance
3. The deliberate decision to keep away from certain actions or topics as a way of refusal

Etymology: "Eschewal" is simply "eschew" with the suffix "-al" added, and the verb itself has a longer journey than its tidy spelling suggests. "Eschew" entered English from Old French "eschiver," meaning to shun or avoid, and the French word probably came from a Germanic source related to the idea of shying away from something. Its distant ancestry reaches back to a Proto-Indo-European root, but the practical story is English speakers borrowing a verb for keeping clear of things they disliked or distrusted. The suffix "-al" is the more ordinary part of the word. It descends through Latin "-ālis," which made adjectives meaning "relating to," passed through Old French, and reached English as Middle English "-al." Attached to verbs, it forms nouns for the act of doing that thing, as with "denial" or "arrival," so "eschewal" names the act of eschewing. The word is a straightforward formation rather than a coinage with a memorable inventor.

Synonyms: avoidance, rejection

Antonyms: acceptance, embrace