abandoned

[uh-ban-duh nd] /əˈbæn dənd/
adjective
1.
forsaken or deserted:
an abandoned building; an abandoned kitten.
2.
unrestrained or uncontrolled; uninhibited:
She danced with abandoned enthusiasm.
3.
utterly lacking in moral restraints; shameless; wicked:
an abandoned and dissolute ruler.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English; see abandon1, -ed2
Related forms
abandonedly, adverb
half-abandoned, adjective
unabandoned, adjective
Synonyms
1. discarded, rejected. 3. See immoral.

abandon1

[uh-ban-duh n] /əˈbæn dən/
verb (used with object)
1.
to leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert:
to abandon one's farm; to abandon a child; to abandon a sinking ship.
2.
to give up; discontinue; withdraw from:
to abandon a research project; to abandon hopes for a stage career.
3.
to give up the control of:
to abandon a city to an enemy army.
4.
to yield (oneself) without restraint or moderation; give (oneself) over to natural impulses, usually without self-control:
to abandon oneself to grief.
5.
Law. to cast away, leave, or desert, as property or a child.
6.
Insurance. to relinquish (insured property) to the underwriter in case of partial loss, thus enabling the insured to claim a total loss.
7.
Obsolete. to banish.
Origin
1325-75; Middle English abando(u)nen < Middle French abandoner for Old French (mettre) a bandon (put) under (someone's) jurisdiction, equivalent to a at, to (< Latin ad; see ad-) + bandon < Germanic *band; see bond1
Related forms
abandonable, adjective
abandoner, noun
abandonment, noun
nonabandonment, noun
unabandoning, adjective
Synonyms
1. See desert2 . 2. Abandon, relinquish, renounce mean to give up all concern in something. Abandon means to give up or discontinue any further interest in something because of discouragement, weariness, distaste, or the like: to abandon one's efforts. Relinquish implies being or feeling compelled to give up something one would prefer to keep: to relinquish a long-cherished desire. Renounce implies making (and perhaps formally stating) a voluntary decision to give something up: to renounce worldly pleasures. 3. yield, surrender, resign, waive, abdicate.
Antonyms
1. keep. 2. continue; begin, start. 3. retain.
Examples from the web for abandoned
  • Dozens of reactor construction projects abandoned with ratepayers left to pick up the tab.
  • The authors provide compelling arguments for saving the abandoned generation of college students.
  • After several summers in those sun-drenched hills, I forked over my savings and bought an abandoned house.
  • With no research funding for 8 years, I've abandoned mathematical studies.
  • But while they may not be investing in the companies themselves, venture capitalists haven't completely abandoned stem-cell work.
  • Even coins have returned to circulation after being abandoned in 2002.
  • Attempts at remaining levelheaded were abandoned months ago.
  • The city is dotted with motionless construction cranes poised over the pits of abandoned projects.
  • The motorized sledges broke down and had to be abandoned.
  • It looked like the old village had only been abandoned for 30 years or so.
British Dictionary definitions for abandoned

abandoned

/əˈbændənd/
adjective
1.
deserted: an abandoned windmill
2.
forsaken: an abandoned child
3.
unrestrained; uninhibited: wild, abandoned dancing
4.
depraved; profligate

abandon

/əˈbændən/
verb (transitive)
1.
to forsake completely; desert; leave behind: to abandon a baby, drivers had to abandon their cars
2.
abandon ship, the order given to the crew of a ship that is about to sink to take to the lifeboats
3.
to give up completely: to abandon a habit, to abandon hope
4.
to yield control of or concern in; relinquish: to abandon office
5.
to give up (something begun) before completion: to abandon a job, the game was abandoned
6.
to surrender (oneself) to emotion without restraint
7.
to give (insured property that has suffered partial loss or damage) to the insurers in order that a claim for a total loss may be made
noun
8.
freedom from inhibitions, restraint, concern, or worry: she danced with abandon
Derived Forms
abandonment, noun
Word Origin
C14: abandounen (vb), from Old French, from a bandon under one's control, in one's power, from a at, to + bandon control, power
Word Origin and History for abandoned
adj.

"self-devoted" to some purpose (usually evil), late 14c., past participle adjective from abandon (v.).

abandon

v.

late 14c., "to give up, surrender (oneself or something), give over utterly; to yield (oneself) utterly (to religion, fornication, etc.)," from Old French abandoner (12c.), from adverbial phrase à bandon "at will, at discretion," from à "at, to" (see ad-) + bandon "power, jurisdiction," from Latin bannum, "proclamation," from a Frankish word related to ban (v.).

Mettre sa forest à bandon was a feudal law phrase in the 13th cent. = mettre sa forêt à permission, i.e. to open it freely to any one for pasture or to cut wood in; hence the later sense of giving up one's rights for a time, letting go, leaving, abandoning. [Auguste Brachet, "An Etymological Dictionary of the French Language," transl. G.W. Kitchin, Oxford, 1878]
Etymologically, the word carries a sense of "put someone under someone else's control." Meaning "to give up absolutely" is from late 14c. Related: Abandoned; abandoning.

n.

"a letting loose, surrender to natural impulses," 1822, from a sense in French abandon (see abandon (v.). Borrowed earlier (c.1400) from French in a sense "(someone's) control;" and cf. Middle English adverbial phrase at abandon, i.e. "recklessly," attested from late 14c.