n.
The act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite or desire, especially for alcoholic drink or sexual intercourse.
[Middle English, from Old French abstenance, from Latin abstinentia, from abstinēns, abstinent-, present participle of abstinēre, to hold back. See abstain.]
abstinent ab'sti·nent adj.abstinently ab'sti·nent·ly adv.
SYNONYMS abstinence, self-denial, temperance, sobriety, continence. These nouns refer to restraint of one's appetites or desires. Abstinence implies the willful avoidance of pleasures, especially of food and drink, thought to be harmful or self-indulgent: "I vainly reminded him of his protracted abstinence from food" (Emily Brontë). Self-denial suggests resisting one's own desires for the achievement of a higher goal: I practiced self-denial to provide for my family's needs. Temperance refers to moderation and self-restraint and sobriety to gravity in bearing, manner, or treatment; both nouns denote moderation in or abstinence from the consumption of alcoholic liquor: Teetotalers preach temperance for everyone. "those moments which would come between the subsidence of actual sobriety and the commencement of intoxication" (Anthony Trollope). Continence specifically refers to abstention from sexual activity: The nun took a vow of continence.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
