ab·sti·nence

(ăb′stə-nəns)

The act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite or desire, especially for alcoholic drink or sexual intercourse.

[Middle English, from Old French abstenance, from Latin abstinentia, from abstinēns, abstinent-, present participle of abstinēre, to hold back; see abstain.]

ab′sti·nent adj.

ab′sti·nent·ly adv.

Synonyms: abstinence, self-denial, temperance, sobriety, continence
These nouns refer to the habitual refusal to indulge a desire, especially a sensual one. Abstinence implies the willful avoidance of pleasures, especially of food and drink, thought to be harmful or self-indulgent: "I vainly reminded him of his protracted abstinence from food" (Emily Brontë).
Self-denial suggests resisting one's own desires for the achievement of a higher goal: "For too many people, the result of sedentary living is a perennial, losing battle against the bulge: bursts of self-denial interspersed with guilt when self-denial inevitably leads to self-indulgence" (Jane Brody).
Temperance refers to moderation and self-restraint and sobriety to gravity in bearing, manner, or treatment; both nouns denote moderation in or abstinence from consuming alcohol: Teetotalers preach temperance for everyone. "[T]hose moments which would come between the subsidence of actual sobriety and the commencement of intoxication" (Anthony Trollope).
Continence specifically refers to abstaining from sexual activity: The nun took a vow of continence.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

abstinence

(ˈæbstɪnəns)

1. the act or practice of refraining from some action or from the use of something, esp alcohol

2. (Roman Catholic Church) chiefly RC Church the practice of refraining from specific kinds of food or drink, esp from meat, as an act of penance

[C13: via Old French from Latin abstinentia, from abstinēre to abstain]

ˈabstinent adj

ˈabstinently adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ab•sti•nence

(ˈæb stə nəns)

also ab′sti•nen•cy,

1. forbearance from indulgence of an appetite.

2. abstention from a drug, as alcohol or heroin, esp. a drug on which one is dependent.

3. the refraining from certain kinds of foods on certain days, as from meat during Lent.

[1250–1300; Middle English < Latin abstinentia. See abstain, -ence]

ab′sti•nent, adj.

ab′sti•nent•ly, adv.

abstinence

a voluntary and habitual self-deprivation, especially from alcoholic beverages. — abstinent, adj.

abstinence

noun abstention, continence, temperance, self-denial, self-restraint, forbearance, refraining, avoidance, moderation, sobriety, asceticism, teetotalism, abstemiousness, soberness six months of abstinence
abandon, excess, indulgence, self-indulgence, gluttony, acquisitiveness, wantonness, covetousness, greediness

Quotations
"Refrain to-night, And that shall lend a kind of easiness To the next abstinence: the next more easy; For use almost can change the stamp of nature" [William Shakespeare Hamlet]
"Abstinence is as easy to me, as temperance would be difficult" [Samuel Johnson Correspondence with Mrs. Hannah More]
"To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation" [St. Augustine of Hippo On the Good of Marriage]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

abstinence

noun

The practice of refraining from use of alcoholic liquors:

dryness, soberness, sobriety, teetotalism, temperance.

Translations

إمْتِنَاع عَن تَنَاوُل الكُحُول

abstinencezdrženlivost

afholdenhed

Abstinenz Enthaltsamkeit Entzug

abstinence sobriété tempérance

absztinencia

bindindi

astinenza astinenza completa continenza

abstinencijaabstinencijos simptomaipradėti nebevartoti alkoholiopradėti nebevartoti narkotikų

abstinenceatturešanasatturība

onthouding

avhold avholdenhet abstinens

abstinência

abstinencia

bırakmasakınmauzak durma

戒酒行为戒除饮酒或吸毒節制

abstinence

[ˈæbstɪnəns]

A. N → abstinencia f (from de) total abstinence → abstinencia f total (esp de bebidas alcohólicas)

B. CPD abstinence syndrome N → síndrome m de abstinencia

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

abstinence

[ˈæbstɪnəns] n → abstinence f
sexual abstinence → abstinence sexuelle
abstinence from sth [+ alcohol, drinking] → abstention de qch; [+ sex] → abstinence de qch; [+ meat] → abstention de qch
total abstinence from alcohol → abstention complète de boissons alcoolisées

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

abstinence

n → Abstinenz f → (from von), Enthaltung f → (from von); (= self-restraint) → Enthaltsamkeit f; total abstinence → völlige Abstinenz; years of abstinence → jahrelange Abstinenz

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

abstinence

[ˈæbstɪnəns] n → astinenza

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

abstinence

(ˈӕbstinəns) noun

1. the act or habit of abstaining, especially from alcohol.

2. withdrawal from taking alcohol or addictive drugs. He is in heroin abstinence.

go into abstinence

to start a process of withdrawal from addiction. She went into an alcohol abstinence programme.

symptoms of abstinence

unpleasant physical symptoms such as headaches and nausea, resulting from abstinence.

ab·sti·nence

n. abstinencia, privación voluntaria, templanza, moderación.

abstinence

n abstinencia

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

At Cambridge they taught me that his profits were the reward of abstinence--the abstinence which enabled him to save.

View in context

Hence, up to the date of the introduction of the Universal Colour Bill, the Circles had not only held their own, but even increased their lead of the other classes by abstinence from the popular fashion.

View in context

On the contrary, every person in this house was perfect master of his own time: and as he might at his pleasure satisfy all his appetites within the restrictions only of law, virtue, and religion; so he might, if his health required, or his inclination prompted him to temperance, or even to abstinence, absent himself from any meals, or retire from them, whenever he was so disposed, without even a sollicitation to the contrary: for, indeed, such sollicitations from superiors always savour very strongly of commands.

View in context

'Some precautions, it may be; but temperance, sir, is one thing, and abstinence another.'

View in context

But the success has not hitherto been answerable, partly by some error in the QUANTUM or composition, and partly by the perverseness of lads, to whom this bolus is so nauseous, that they generally steal aside, and discharge it upwards, before it can operate; neither have they been yet persuaded to use so long an abstinence, as the prescription requires.

View in context

In one thing, however, they showed superior judgment and self- command to most of their race; this was, in their abstinence from ardent spirits, and the abhorrence and disgust with which they regarded a drunkard.

View in context

Daylight had made no assertion of total abstinence though he had not taken a drink for months after the day he resolved to let his business go to smash.

View in context

The result was that I was no longer reinvigorated by periods of open-air abstinence and healthy toil.

View in context

In the honour given to rulers, in the abstinence of the warrior class from agriculture, handicrafts, and trade in general, in the institution of common meals, and in the attention paid to gymnastics and military training--in all these respects this State will resemble the former.

View in context

They each had the yellow fever fourteen times, and then resolved to try a little abstinence; since which period, they have been doing well.

View in context

Mawmsey was not only an overseer (it was about a question of outdoor pay that he was having an interview with Lydgate), he was also asthmatic and had an increasing family: thus, from a medical point of view, as well as from his own, he was an important man; indeed, an exceptional grocer, whose hair was arranged in a flame-like pyramid, and whose retail deference was of the cordial, encouraging kind--jocosely complimentary, and with a certain considerate abstinence from letting out the full force of his mind.

View in context

But I may as well say --en passant, as the French remark --that I myself --that is to say, Jack Bunger, late of the reverend clergy --am a strict total abstinence man; I never drink-- Water!

View in context

Noun	1.	abstinence - the trait of abstaining (especially from alcohol) abstention self-denial, self-discipline - the trait of practicing self discipline
	2.	abstinence - act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite chastity, sexual abstention, celibacy - abstaining from sexual relations (as because of religious vows) self-control, self-denial, self-discipline - the act of denying yourself; controlling your impulses temperance, sobriety - abstaining from excess teetotaling, teetotalism - abstaining from alcohol fast, fasting - abstaining from food inhibition, suppression - (psychology) the conscious exclusion of unacceptable thoughts or desires sawm - the third pillar of Islam is fasting (primarily during the month of Ramadan); Muslims abstain from food and drink and gambling and all sensuous pleasures from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan