abstenir
French, verb/ap.stə.niʁ/
abstenir is spelled A-B-S-T-E-N-I-R (8 letters) and appears 4.6 times per million words in written French, the 11,928th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Abstenir is a French verb meaning “to abstain, to forbear” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “S’empêcher de faire quelque chose ; se priver de l’usage de quelque chose”.
What does abstenir mean in English?
verb
- 1
to abstain, to forbear
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
verb: 1. S’empêcher de faire quelque chose ; se priver de l’usage de quelque chose. 2. Ne pas voter lors d’un scrutin. 3. Décider de ne pas faire ce qu’on fait normalement. 4. Empêcher, dissuader.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of abstenir
- s'abstenir infinitive
- s'être + past participle infinitive multiword-construction
- s'abstenant gerund participle present
- ayant gerund multiword-construction participle
- étant + past participle gerund multiword-construction participle
- abstenu participle past
- m'abstiens first-person indicative present
- t'abstiens indicative present second-person
- s'abstient indicative present singular
- nous abstenons first-person indicative plural
- vous abstenez indicative plural present
- s'abstiennent indicative plural present
- m'abstenais first-person imperfect indicative
- t'abstenais imperfect indicative second-person
- s'abstenait imperfect indicative singular
- nous abstenions first-person imperfect indicative
- vous absteniez imperfect indicative plural
- s'abstenaient imperfect indicative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce abstenir?
- /ap.stə.niʁ/
- \ap.stə.niʁ\
- [s‿ap.stə.niʁ]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is abstenir in French?
abstenir appears 4.6 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).