Skip to main content
PlainSpell

abstinence

ab·sti·nence/ˈæb.stɪ.nəns/noun

abstinence is spelled A-B-S-T-I-N-E-N-C-E, 3 syllables: ab·sti·nence. The wrong spelling people search most is abstenance: about 30 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 66 of all searches for the word. Abstinence is a noun meaning “The act or practice of abstaining, refraining from indulging a desire or appetite”. The plural of abstinence is abstinences.

How many letters and syllables are in abstinence?

Letters10: A-B-S-T-I-N-E-N-C-E
Syllables3: ab·sti·nence
In writing1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched1; the most searched, abstenance, about 30 Bing searches a month (all of them)

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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How do you spell abstinence?

Abstinence is spelled A-B-S-T-I-N-E-N-C-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 66 of the searches for abstinence in either form.

abstinencethe right spelling1,960 searches a month
abstenancee in place of i, a in place of e30 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is abstinence?

Abstinence appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th 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 abstinence?

  • /ˈæb.stɪ.nəns/

Abstinence has 3 syllables, split ab·sti·nence in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-abstinence.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of abstinence

  • abstinences plural
  • abstinency

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does abstinence mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The act or practice of abstaining, refraining from indulging a desire or appetite.

    Near-synonyms: abstentiousness, abstemiousness

  2. 2

    Specifically, the practice of abstaining from intoxicating/alcoholic beverages; total abstinence; teetotalism).

    For quotations using this term, see Citations:abstinence.

  3. 3

    Specifically, the practice of abstaining from sexual intercourse, either permanently or until marriage.

    Abstinence is the only 100% guaranteed contraception.

  4. 4

    Abstention from certain foods on days of penitential observance.

  5. 5

    The practice of self-denial; self-restraint; forebearance from anything.

  6. 6

    obsoleteSelf-denial; abstaining; or forebearance of anything.

  7. 7

    Delay of spending to accrue capital.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate abstinence?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of abstinence: ABC.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Abstinence in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchabstinence (the act or practice of abstaining), abstinence sexuelle (specifically, abstinence from sexual intercourse)
GermanEnthaltsamkeit, Abstinenz (the act or practice of abstaining), Keuschheit (specifically, abstinence from sexual intercourse)
Portugueseabstinência (the act or practice of abstaining), abstinência sexual (specifically, abstinence from sexual intercourse)
Spanishvigilia, abstinencia (the act or practice of abstaining)

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 abstinence come from?

From Middle English abstinence, from Old French abstinence, from Latin abstinentia, from abstinēns, present participle of abstineō (“to withhold”). Equivalent to abstain + -ence.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after abstinence