English▸ verb [with object]
1 cease to support or look after (someone); desert:
her natural mother had abandoned her at an early age.
▪ leave (a place or vehicle) empty or uninhabited, without intending to return:
derelict houses were abandoned.
▪ (abandon someone/something to) condemn someone or something to (a specified fate) by ceasing to take an interest in them:
an attempt to persuade businesses not to abandon the area to inner-city deprivation.
2 give up completely (a practice or a course of action):
he had clearly abandoned all pretence of trying to succeed
negotiations were abandoned and fighting intensified.
▪ discontinue (a scheduled event) before completion:
fans invaded the pitch and the match was abandoned.
3 (abandon oneself to) allow oneself to indulge in (a desire or impulse):
they abandoned themselves to despair.
▸ noun [mass noun] complete lack of inhibition or restraint:
she sings and sways with total abandon.
– ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French abandoner, from a- (from Latin ad ‘to, at’) + bandon ‘control’ (related to ban1). The original sense was ‘bring under control’, later ‘give in to the control of, surrender to’ (abandon (sense 3 of the verb)).