ABSTINENCE

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("abstinence" is a kind of...):

self-control; self-denial; self-discipline (the act of denying yourself; controlling your impulses)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "abstinence"):

celibacy; chastity; sexual abstention (abstaining from sexual relations (as because of religious vows))

sobriety; temperance (abstaining from excess)

teetotaling; teetotalism (abstaining from alcohol)

fast; fasting (abstaining from food)

inhibition; suppression ((psychology) the conscious exclusion of unacceptable thoughts or desires)

sawm (the third pillar of Islam is fasting (primarily during the month of Ramadan); Muslims abstain from food and drink and gambling and all sensuous pleasures from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan)

Derivation:

abstinent (self-restraining; not indulging an appetite especially for food or drink)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The trait of abstaining (especially from alcohol)

Synonyms:

abstention; abstinence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("abstinence" is a kind of...):

self-denial; self-discipline (the trait of practicing self discipline)