abandonment
a·ban·don·ment/əˈbæn.d(ə)n.m(ə)nt/noun
abandonment is spelled A-B-A-N-D-O-N-M-E-N-T: 11 letters and 4 syllables (a·ban·don·ment). It appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,122nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, abandonment means “The act of abandoning, or the state of being abandoned; total desertion; relinquishment” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of abandonment is abandonments.
How many letters and syllables are in abandonment?
| Letters | 11: A-B-A-N-D-O-N-M-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: a·ban·don·ment |
| In writing | 2.5 times per million words; the 17,122nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is abandonment?
Abandonment appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,122nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce abandonment?
- /əˈbæn.d(ə)n.m(ə)nt/
- /əˈbeə̯n.d(ə)n.m(ə)nt/
- /əˈbɛə̯n.d(ə)n.m(ə)nt/
Abandonment has 4 syllables, split a·ban·don·ment in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-abandonment.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of abandonment
- abandonments plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does abandonment mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of abandoning, or the state of being abandoned; total desertion; relinquishment.
- 2
The voluntary leaving of a person to whom one is bound by a special relation, as a wife, husband or child; desertion.
Since he left her, she's suing him for divorce on grounds of abandonment.
- 3
An abandoned building or structure.
High-profile abandonments are harder to infiltrate for urban explorers due to their heightened security.
- 4
The relinquishment of a right, claim, or privilege; relinquishment of right to secure a patent by an inventor; relinquishment of copyright by an author.
- 5
The relinquishment by the insured to the underwriters of what may remain of the property insured after a loss or damage by a peril insured against.
- 6
The cessation of service on a particular segment of the lines of a common carrier, as granted by a government agency.
- 7
A refusal to receive freight so damaged in transit as to be worthless and render carrier liable for its value.
- 8
The self-surrender to an outside influence.
For quotations using this term, see Citations:abandonment.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Abandonment in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | désertion , abandon |
| German | Überlassen, Aufgabe, Preisgabe |
| Portuguese | abandono, desolação |
| Spanish | abandono, desamparo, dejación, abandonamiento |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does abandonment come from?
Borrowed from French abandonnement, from abandonner (“to abandon, relinquish”). abandonner was originally equivalent to mettre à bandon (“to leave to the jurisdiction, i.e. of another”), bandon being from Medieval Latin bandum, bannum (“order, decree, ban”). Equivalent to abandon + -ment. (See also English banns.)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).