abridge

abridge

English

Etymology

• From Middle English abreggen (“curtail, lessen”), abregge, abrigge,[1] from Old French abregier abreger, from Late Latin abbrevio (“make brief”), from ad- + brēvio (“shorten”).[2]. Doublet of abbreviate.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈbɹɪd͡ʒ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈbɹɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪdʒ
• Hyphenation: a‧bridge

Verb

abridge (third-person singular simple present abridges, present participle abridging, simple past and past participle abridged)

1. (transitive, archaic) To deprive; to cut off. [First attested from around (1150 to 1350)][3]
2. (transitive, archaic, rare) To debar from. [First attested from around (1150 to 1350)][3]
3. (transitive) To make shorter; to shorten in duration or extent. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470)][3]
   • 1639, Thomas Fuller, The Historie of the Holy Warre, Cambridge, Book 2, Chapter 31, p. 85,

     She retired her self to Sebaste, and abridged her train from State to necessity.

   • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, “chapter 86”, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify the page), London: Harrison and Co., […], published 1781, OCLC 316121541:

     The bridegroom, perceiving his condition, abridged the visit […]

4. (transitive) To shorten or contract by using fewer words, yet retaining the sense; to epitomize; to condense[First attested in 1384.][4]. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470)][3]
   • 1911, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica - Johnson, Samuel

     It was still necessary for the man who had been formerly saluted by the highest authority as dictator of the English language to supply his wants by constant toil. He abridged his Dictionary. He proposed to bring out an edition of Shakespeare by subscription, and many subscribers sent in their names and laid down their money; but he soon found the task so little to his taste that he turned to more attractive employments.

   • 1891, Henry Melville, chapter 3, in Billy Budd:

     Such an episode in the Island's grand naval story her naval historians naturally abridge; one of them (G.P.R. James) candidly acknowledging that fain would he pass it over did not "impartiality forbid fastidiousness."

5. (transitive) Cut short; truncate. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470)][3]
6. (transitive) To curtail. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470)][3]

   He had his rights abridged by the crooked sheriff.

Usage notes

• (deprive): Usually used with to or sometimes with from as, to abridge someone of his rights.

Derived terms

• abridged
• abridger
• abridgement

Related terms

• unabridged

Translations

to make shorter

Arabic: قَصَّر‎ (ar) (qaṣṣar) Belarusian: скарача́ць impf (skaračácʹ), скараці́ць pf (skaracícʹ) Bulgarian: съкращавам (bg) (sǎkraštavam), скъсявам (bg) (skǎsjavam) Czech: zkrátit (cs) pf, krátit (cs) impf Danish: forkorte (da), sammendrage Dutch: beperken (nl), verkorten (nl), inkorten (nl), bekorten (nl) Finnish: lyhentää (fi), typistää (fi), supistaa (fi) French: abréger (fr) German: verkürzen (de), kürzen (de) Greek: Ancient: συντέμνω (suntémnō) Italian: accorciare (it), abbreviare (it), ridurre (it) Latin: abbreviō Maori: whakapoto Norwegian: Bokmål: forkorte, sammendra Portuguese: abreviar (pt), encurtar (pt) Russian: сокраща́ть (ru) (sokraščátʹ), укора́чивать (ru) (ukoráčivatʹ), усека́ть (ru) (usekátʹ) Scottish Gaelic: giorraich Serbo-Croatian: skraćívati Spanish: abreviar (es), condensar (es), compendiar (es) Ukrainian: скоро́чувати impf (skoróčuvaty), скороти́ти pf (skorotýty)

to shorten or contract by using fewer words

Belarusian: скарача́ць impf (skaračácʹ), скараці́ць pf (skaracícʹ) Bulgarian: съкращавам (bg) (sǎkraštavam) Danish: forkorte (da), sammendrage Dutch: verkorten (nl), inkorten (nl) Finnish: lyhentää (fi) French: abréger (fr) German: verkürzen (de) Ido: abreviar (io) Italian: abbreviare (it) Maori: whakapoto Norwegian: Bokmål: forkorte, sammendra Portuguese: abreviar (pt), resumir (pt) Russian: сокраща́ть (ru) (sokraščátʹ), уменьша́ть (ru) (umenʹšátʹ), сумми́ровать (ru) (summírovatʹ) Scottish Gaelic: giorraich Serbo-Croatian: skraćívati, скраћи́вати Spanish: abreviar (es), resumir (es) Ukrainian: скоро́чувати impf (skoróčuvaty), скороти́ти pf (skorotýty)

to deprive

Bulgarian: ограничавам (bg) (ograničavam), лишавам (от права) (bg) (lišavam (ot prava)) Dutch: beroven (van), beknotten (nl) Finnish: riistää (fi), viedä (fi) Italian: privare (it), limitare (it) Norwegian: Bokmål: avkorte Portuguese: privar (pt), despojar (pt) Russian: уменьша́ть (ru) (umenʹšátʹ), убавля́ть (ru) (ubavljátʹ), ограни́чивать (ru) (ograníčivatʹ), уре́зывать (ru) (urézyvatʹ) Spanish: privar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Interlingua: (please verify) abbreviar (ia), (please verify) reducer

References

1. Laurence Urdang (editor), The Random House College Dictionary (Random House, 1984 [1975], →ISBN), page 5
2. Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], →ISBN), page 6
3. Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief; William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abridge”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 8.
4. Elliott K. Dobbie, C. William Dunmore, Robert K. Barnhart, et al. (editors), Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2004 [1998], →ISBN), page 4

Anagrams

• bigrade, brigade