ABOLISH
abolish, get rid of
(verb) do away with; “Slavery was abolished in the mid-19th century in America and in Russia”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
abolish (third-person singular simple present abolishes, present participle abolishing, simple past and past participle (obsolete) abolisht or abolished)
To end a law, system, institution, custom or practice. [First attested from around 1350 to 1470.]
(archaic) To put an end to or destroy, as a physical object; to wipe out. [First attested from around 1350 to 1470.]
Synonyms
• (to end a law, system, institution, custom or practice): abrogate, annul, cancel, dissolve, nullify, repeal, revoke
Antonyms
• (to end a law, system, institution, custom or practice): establish, found
Source: Wiktionary
A*bol"ish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abolished; p. pr. & vb. n.
Abolishing.] Etym: [F. abolir, L. abolere, aboletum; ab + olere to
grow. Cf. Finish.]
1. To do away with wholly; to annul; to make void; -- said of laws,
customs, institutions, governments, etc.; as, to abolish slavery, to
abolish folly.
2. To put an end to, or destroy, as a physical objects; to wipe out.
[Archaic]
And with thy blood abolish so reproachful blot. Spenser.
His quick instinctive hand Caught at the hilt, as to abolish him.
Tennyson.
Syn.
– To Abolish, Repeal, Abrogate, Revoke, Annul, Nullify, Cancel.
These words have in common the idea of setting aside by some
overruling act. Abolish applies particularly to things of a permanent
nature, such as institutions, usages, customs, etc.; as, to abolish
monopolies, serfdom, slavery. Repeal describes the act by which the
legislature of a state sets aside a law which it had previously
enacted. Abrogate was originally applied to the repeal of a law by
the Roman people; and hence, when the power of making laws was
usurped by the emperors, the term was applied to their act of setting
aside the laws. Thus it came to express that act by which a sovereign
or an executive government sets aside laws, ordinances, regulations,
treaties, conventions, etc. Revoke denotes the act or recalling some
previous grant which conferred, privilege, etc.; as, to revoke a
decree, to revoke a power of attorney, a promise, etc. Thus, also, we
speak of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Annul is used in a
more general sense, denoting simply to make void; as, to annul a
contract, to annul an agreement. Nullify is an old word revived in
this country, and applied to the setting of things aside either by
force or by total disregard; as, to nullify an act of Congress.
Cancel is to strike out or annul, by a deliberate exercise of power,
something which has operative force.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition