- 1
To abstain means to choose not to do something you would normally be allowed to do, usually through self-control — most often used for not voting ('abstain from the vote', meaning you choose neither yes nor no) or not drinking alcohol or eating certain foods ('abstain from alcohol'). It's a formal word, describing a deliberate personal choice, not something forced on you.
棄權；戒（酒／某種食物等）
組成ab- (away from) + Latin 'tenere' (to hold). The idea is holding yourself away or back from something.
同家族的字
- abstinencesame root, the noun for the act of abstaining
- containshares the Latin root -tain/tenere (to hold)
原始詞典資料6 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
abstainverb/əbˈsteɪn/
- 1
obsoleteKeep or withhold oneself.
- 2
Refrain from (something or doing something); keep from doing, especially an indulgence.
- In order to improve his health, Rob decided to abstain from smoking.
- Who abstains from meat that is not gaunt?
- 3
Refrain from (something or doing something); keep from doing, especially an indulgence.
- … she had made Bunting abstain very early in their acquaintance. … Glad she was now that he had taken the pledge as a younger man; but for that nothing would have kept him from the drink during the bad times they had gone through.
- 4
obsoleteFast (not eat for a period).
- 5
Deliberately refrain from casting one's vote at a meeting where one is present.
- I abstain from this vote, as I have no particular preference.
- […]forcing a small portion of the population to abstain from voting
- 6
obsoleteHinder; keep back; withhold.
- Whether he abstain men from marying [sic].
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。