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Abstinence

Webster

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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Ab′sti·nence (ăb′stĭ·nens), n. [F. abstinence, L. abstinentia, fr. abstinere. See Abstain.] 1. The act or practice of abstaining; voluntary forbearance of any action, especially the refraining from an indulgence of appetite, or from customary gratifications of animal or sensual propensities. Specifically, the practice of abstaining from intoxicating beverages, — called also total abstinence.

The abstinence from a present pleasure that offers itself is a pain, nay, oftentimes, a very great one. Locke.

2. The practice of self-denial by depriving one's self of certain kinds of food or drink, especially of meat.

Penance, fasts, and abstinence, To punish bodies for the soul's offense. Dryden.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.

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