Abolition

//ˌæb.əˈlɪʃ.n̩// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of abolishing; an annulling; abrogation.

    "the abolition of debts; the abolition of laws; the abolition of slavery; the abolition of police; the abolition of taxes"

  2. 2
    the act of abolishing a system or practice or institution (especially abolishing slavery) wordnet
  3. 3
    The state of being abolished.
  4. 4
    The ending of the slave trade or of slavery. UK, US, capitalized, historical, often
  5. 5
    The ending of convict transportation. Australia, capitalized, historical, often
Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    An amnesty; a putting out of memory. obsolete

Synonyms

All synonyms
abolishmentabolishmentabrogationannihilationannulmentcancel

Example

More examples

"The abolition of slavery in Europe eventually reached America."

Etymology

First attested in 1529. Either from Middle French abolition, or directly from Latin abolitiō, from aboleō (“destroy”). Compare French abolition. Equivalent to abolish + -tion.

More for "abolition"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.