definition of the word abate

by the Wiktionnary

From Old French abatre "to beat down", from Late Latin abatere, formed from ab- or ad- + battere, from Latin battuere "to beat".

Infinitive
to abate

Third person singular
abates

Simple past
abated

Past participle
abated

Present participle
abating

to abate (third-person singular simple present abates, present participle abating, simple past and past participle abated)

(transitive) To bring down or reduce to a lower state, number, degree or estimation; to lessen; to diminish; to contract; to moderate; to cut short.

Legacies are liable to be abated entirely or in proportion, upon a deficiency of assets.
- 1605: She hath abated me of half my train — William Shakespeare, King Lear, II.ii
- 1611: His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. — Deuteronomy 34:7
- To abate the edge of envy. - Francis Bacon
(transitive) To bring down (a person) physically or mentally; to humble; to depress.
(intransitive) To decrease, or become less in strength or violence; to experience a diminution of force or of intensity.

The pain abates.
- The fury of Glengarry ... rapidly abated. - Thomas Macaulay
- 1719- Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
  
  ...in the morning, the wind having abated overnight, the sea was calm, and I ventured...
(transitive) To deduct; to omit; as, to abate some amount from a price or count.
- Nine thousand parishes, abating the odd hundreds. - Fuller
(transitive) To bar; to except.
(transitive) (obsolete except in law) To bring entirely down or put an end to; to do away with; to destroy; to level with the ground.

To abate a nuisance.

To abate a writ.
- The King of Scots ... sore abated the walls. - Edward Hall
(intransitive) To be defeated or come to naught; to fall through; to fail.

The writ has abated.

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