The English word 'abstain' entered the language in the late fourteenth century, borrowed through Old French 'abstenir' from Latin 'abstinere.' The Latin verb is a compound of 'abs-' (a variant of the prefix 'ab-,' meaning 'away from') and 'tenere' (to hold). The literal meaning is 'to hold away from' — to actively maintain distance between oneself and something one might otherwise do, consume, or participate in.
The spatial metaphor is vivid and precise. Abstaining is not merely 'not doing' something — it is the deliberate act of holding oneself away from it. The word implies effort, will, and conscious choice. One does not accidentally abstain. The prefix 'abs-' provides the crucial element of separation: the abstainer holds themselves apart from the action or substance in question.
In its earliest English uses, 'abstain' carried strong religious and moral connotations. Medieval Christianity emphasized abstinence — particularly abstaining from food (fasting), from alcohol (temperance), and from sexual activity (chastity) — as a spiritual discipline. To abstain was to exercise the virtue of self-control, holding oneself away from bodily pleasure in pursuit of spiritual purity. This association with moral discipline has never entirely left the word.
The noun 'abstinence' (from Latin 'abstinentia') entered English around the same time and refers to the practice or habit of abstaining. 'Total abstinence' — refraining entirely from alcohol — became a rallying cry of the temperance movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The 'teetotal' movement (a term coined in the 1830s, possibly from 'T-total,' meaning total with a capital T) promoted complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages, and the word 'abstinence' became closely associated with this cause.
The political sense of abstaining — declining to vote — developed in English by the eighteenth century. In parliamentary and legislative contexts, abstention is a formal third option beyond 'yes' and 'no.' When a legislator abstains, they are present and participating in the proceedings but deliberately withholding their vote. Abstention in this sense is an active political choice: it signals awareness of the issue and a deliberate decision not to take a side.
In international diplomacy, abstention carries particular weight. In the United Nations Security Council, the five permanent members can veto resolutions, but they can also abstain. An abstention from a permanent member allows a resolution to pass (unlike a veto) while signaling reservations. This diplomatic use of abstention — holding oneself away from both approval and rejection — is a sophisticated application of the word's etymological meaning.
The medical and dietary uses of 'abstain' and 'abstinence' remain important. Patients are told to abstain from certain foods before surgery. Recovering addicts are encouraged to abstain from substances. The medical concept of 'abstinence syndrome' refers to the physical symptoms that occur when someone stops using a substance they have become dependent on — the body's reaction to being suddenly held away from what it has come to need.
Within the '-tain' verb family, 'abstain' occupies the position of deliberate separation. Where 'contain' holds together, 'detain' holds back, 'retain' holds onto, 'maintain' holds up, 'sustain' holds from below, 'obtain' reaches toward, and 'entertain' holds among, 'abstain' holds away from. It is the only member of the family whose core meaning is negative — defined by what one does not do rather than what one does. Yet etymologically, this negation requires positive effort: abstaining is active holding, not passive absence.
In contemporary English, 'abstain' retains its association with deliberate self-restraint. The word is more formal than 'avoid' or 'refrain,' and carries stronger connotations of moral or principled choice. One 'avoids' traffic but 'abstains' from alcohol. The formality and moral weight of the word trace directly to its Latin roots and its centuries of association with religious discipline, political principle, and medical self-care.