abandon

Definitions

From Old French mettre a bandon — to put something under (a-) someone's bandon, meaning their control, jurisdiction, or 'ban' (the same bannum that gives us ban and banish). To put a thing 'at someone's bandon' meant to surrender it, hand it over to another's power. From 'give over to another's control' the sense slid to 'give up entirely, leave behind.' The noun sense ('with abandon') keeps the older flavor: to act with abandon is to surrender yourself, to let go of all restraint.

Why It Means This

Abandon hides the same bannum ('ban, command, jurisdiction') as ban and banish, but it traveled through French and lost the visible link. The key shift is from 'put under someone's power' to 'let go of.' That is why the same word covers two seemingly opposite ideas: abandoning a ship (giving it up) and dancing with abandon (giving yourself up to the moment).

Common Collocations

• 1.abandon hope放弃希望
• 2.abandon ship弃船
• 3.abandon a plan放弃计划
• 4.with reckless abandon肆无忌惮地

Example Sentences

• 1.

  They had to abandon the sinking ship and swim to shore.

• 2.

  The project was abandoned after the funding dried up.

• 3.

  She sang and danced with complete abandon all night.

Synonym Comparison