abster
Portuguese, verb/absˈte(ʁ)/
abster is spelled A-B-S-T-E-R (6 letters) and appears 1.5 times per million words in written Portuguese, the 26,665th most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Abster is a Portuguese verb meaning “to keep, to prevent (to stop someone from doing something)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “privar de”.
What does abster mean in English?
verb
- 1
to keep, to prevent (to stop someone from doing something)
As dores o abstiveram de viajar.
- 2
to abstain, to refrain (to deliberately not do, have or make use of something pleasurable)
Essa dieta exige que você se abstenha de chocolate.
- 3
to keep one’s composure
Não importa quantos insultos ouvir, abstenha-se.
- 4
to abstain (to deliberately refrain from voting)
Nenhuma das opções é boa, então eu me abstenho.
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
verb: 1. privar de 2. conter-se
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of abster
- abstenho first-person present singular
- abstive first-person preterite singular
- abstido participle past
- absteres infinitive second-person singular
- abstermos first-person infinitive plural
- absterdes infinitive plural second-person
- absterem infinitive plural third-person
- abstendo gerund
- abstidos masculine participle past
- abstida feminine participle past
- abstidas feminine participle past
- absténs indicative present second-person
- abstém indicative present singular
- abstemos first-person indicative plural
- abstendes indicative plural present
- abstêm indicative plural present
- abstinha first-person imperfect indicative
- abstinhas imperfect indicative second-person
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce abster?
- Brazil /absˈte(ʁ)/
- Brazil [absˈte(h)]
- Brazil /a.bisˈte(ʁ)/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to abster
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is abster in Portuguese?
abster appears 1.5 times per million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).