abridgment
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]First attested in 1494. From Middle English abrygement,[1] from Middle French abrégement.[2] Equivalent to abridge + -ment.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (US) IPA(key): /əˈbɹɪd͡ʒ.mənt/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Noun
[edit]abridgment (countable and uncountable, plural abridgments)
- (US) The act of abridging; reduction or deprivation [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).]
- Synonyms: diminution, lessening, shortening[2]
- an abridgment of pleasures or of expenses
- (US) The state of being abridged or lessened.
- (US) An epitome or compend, as of a book; a shortened or abridged form; an abbreviation. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).][2]
- 2012 March 22, Scott Tobias, “The Hunger Games”, in AV Club[1]:
- When the goal is simply to be as faithful as possible to the material—as if a movie were a marriage, and a rights contract the vow—the best result is a skillful abridgment, one that hits all the important marks without losing anything egregious.
- (obsolete) That which abridges or cuts short; hence, an entertainment that makes the time pass quickly
- 1605, Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, V-i:
- What abridgment have you for this evening? What masque? what music?
- (dated, law) Any of various brief statements of case law made before modern reporting of legal cases.
- (law) The leaving out of certain portions of a plaintiff's demand, the writ still holding good for the remainder.
Usage notes
[edit]- In current usage this spelling is about as common as abridgement in the US, but much less common in the UK.
- Notes on near-synonyms:
- An abridgment is made by omitting the less important parts of some larger work; as, an abridgment of a dictionary.
- A compendium is a brief exhibition of a subject, or science, for common use; as, a compendium of American literature.
- An epitome corresponds to a compendium, and gives briefly the most material points of a subject; as, an epitome of history.
- An abstract is a brief statement of a thing in its main points.
- A synopsis is a bird's-eye view of a subject, or work, in its several parts.
Synonyms
[edit]- (act of abridging): compendium, epitome, abstract, synopsis, précis
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]act of abridging
|
state of being abridged
|
shortened version
|
obsolete: that which abridges or cuts short
brief statement of case law
- 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
References
[edit]- ^ Laurence Urdang (editor), The Random House College Dictionary (Random House, 1984 [1975], →ISBN), page 5
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abridgment”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 8.
Further reading
[edit]- “abridgment”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “abridgment”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “abridgment”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms suffixed with -ment
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- American English
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English dated terms
- en:Law