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Origin and history of abate

abate(v.)

c. 1300, abaten, "put an end to" (transitive); early 14c., "to grow less, diminish in power or influence" (intransitive); from Old French abatre "beat down, cast down, strike down; fell, destroy; abolish; reduce, lower" (Modern French abattre), from Vulgar Latin *abbatere, from Latin ad "to" (see ad-) + battuere "to beat" (see batter (v.)). The French literal sense of "to fell, slaughter" is in abatis and abattoir. Related: Abated; abating.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to abate

abatis(n.)

"barricade defense made of felled trees with the branches angled outward," 1766, from French abatis, literally "things thrown down," from Old French abateiz "a casting down; slaughter, carnage" (12c.), from abatre "to beat down, throw down" (see abate).

abattoir(n.)

"slaughterhouse for cows," 1820, from French abattre in its literal sense "to beat down, knock down, slaughter" (see abate) + suffix -oir, corresponding to Latin -orium, indicating "place where" (see -ory).

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batter
"strike repeatedly, beat violently and rapidly," early 14c., from Old French batre "to beat, strike" (11c., Modern French battre "to beat, to strike"), from Latin battuere, batuere "to beat, strike," a rare word in literary Latin but evidently an old one and popular in Vulgar Lat
rebate
late 14c., rebaten, "to reduce, diminish;" early 15c., "to deduct, subtract," from Old French rebatre, rabatre, rabattre "beat down, drive back," also "deduct," from re-, "back," or perhaps "repeatedly" (see re-) + abattre "beat down" (see abate). Original senses now are obsolete
slack
Middle English slak, of persons, "indolent, lazy;" also (from c. 1300), of things or parts, "loose, not tight or taut;" from Old English slæc "remiss, lax, characterized by lack of energy, sluggish, indolent, languid; slow in movement, gentle, easy," from Proto-Germanic *slakas (
remiss
characterized by negligence," from Latin remissus "relaxed, languid; negligent," past participle of remittere "slacken, abate...
moderate
early 15c., "to abate excessiveness, reduce the intensity of;" from Latin moderatus "within bounds, observing moderation;...
discount
Hence, "to abate, deduct" (1650s), and figurative sense "to leave out of account, disregard" (1702)....
remit
late 14c., remitten, "to forgive, pardon," from Latin remittere "send back, slacken, let go back, abate," from re- "back"...
fall
Old English feallan (class VII strong verb; past tense feoll, past participle feallen) "to drop from a height; fail, decay, die," from Proto-Germanic *fallanan (source also of Old Frisian falla, Old Saxon fallan, Dutch vallen, Old Norse falla, Old High German fallan, German falle
diminish
early 15c., diminishen, "to lessen, make or seem to make smaller," from merger of two obsolete verbs, diminue and minish.  Diminue (late 14c.) is from Old French diminuer "make small," from Latin diminuere "break into small pieces," variant of deminuere "lessen, diminish," f
decrease
early 15c., decresen (intransitive) "become less, be diminished gradually," from Anglo-French decreiss-, present-participle stem of decreistre, Old French descroistre (12c., Modern French décroître), from Latin decrescere "to grow less, diminish," from de "away from" (see de-) +

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