abstention
French, noun/ap.stɑ̃.sjɔ̃/
abstention is spelled A-B-S-T-E-N-T-I-O-N (10 letters) and appears 5.1 times per million words in written French, the 11,014th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Abstention is a French feminine noun meaning “abstention” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Action de s’abstenir, non-exercice d’un droit, refus de prendre part, d’intervenir”.
What does abstention mean in English?
noun
- 1
feminineabstention
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Action de s’abstenir, non-exercice d’un droit, refus de prendre part, d’intervenir. 2. Résultat de cette action. 3. Acte par lequel un juge s’abstient, se récuse lui-même. 4. Attitude d’une personne se retenant à jouir d’un plaisir.
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 abstention
- abstentions plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce abstention?
- /ap.stɑ̃.sjɔ̃/
- \ap.stɑ̃.sjɔ̃\
- [ap.stɑ̃.sjɔ̃]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to abstention
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is abstention in French?
abstention appears 5.1 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).