From late Middle English abolisshen, from Middle French aboliss-, extended stem of abolir,^[1] from Latin abolēre (“to retard, check the growth of, (and by extension) destroy, abolish”), and inchoative abolēscere (“to wither, vanish, cease”).^[2]

• (UK) enPR: ə-bŏl'ĭsh IPA^(key): /əˈbɒlɪʃ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈbɑl.ɪʃ/, /əˈbɑl.əʃ/

• Audio (US):

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• (Indic) IPA^(key): /əˈbɔlɪʃ/

abolish (third-person singular simple present abolishes, present participle abolishing, simple past and past participle abolished or (obsolete) abolisht)

1. To end a law, system, institution, custom or practice. [First attested from around 1350 to 1470.]^[3]

   Synonyms: abrogate, annul, cancel, dissolve, nullify, repeal, revoke, do away with

   Antonyms: establish, found

   Slavery was abolished in the nineteenth century.

   • 2002, William Schabas, The abolition of the death penalty in international law, Cambridge University Press, title:

     The abolition of the death penalty in international law

2. (archaic) To put an end to or destroy, as a physical object; to wipe out. [First attested from around 1350 to 1470.]^[3]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene:

     And with thy blood abolish so reproachful blot.

   • 1892, Alfred Tennyson, The Marriage of Geraint:

     His quick instinctive hand Caught at the hilt, as to abolish him.