abatement

English

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishabatement,fromAnglo-Normanabatre(“to abate”)(fromOld Frenchabatre),+-ment;equivalent toabate+‎-ment.

Pronunciation

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• (US,UK)IPA^(key):/əˈbeɪt.mənt/

Noun

abatement(countableanduncountable,pluralabatements)

1. The act ofabating,or the state of beingabated;alessening,diminution,or reduction; amoderation;removal or putting an end to; the suppression.[First attested from 1340 to 1470.]

   Theabatementof a nuisance is the suppression thereof.

2. (accounting)The deduction of minor revenues incidental to an operation in calculating the cost of the operation.
3. (law)The action of a person that abates, or without proper authority enters a residence after the death of the owner and before the heir takes possession.
4. (law)The reduction of the proceeds of a will, when the debts have not yet been satisfied; the reduction of taxes due.[First attested around 1150 to 1350.]
5. An amount abated; that which is taken away by way of reduction;deduction;decrease;arebateordiscountallowed; in particular from a tax.[Late 15^thcentury.]
7. (heraldry)A mark ofdishonoron anescutcheon;anyfigureadded to thecoat of armstending to lower thedignityorstationof thebearer.[Early 17^thcentury.]
8. (Scotland)Waste ofstuffin preparing tosize.
9. A beating down, a putting down.
10. A quashing, a judicial defeat, the rendering abortive by law.
11. Forcible entry of a stranger into an inheritance when the person seised of it dies, and before the heir ordeviseecan take possession;ouster.
12. rebatement,real or imaginary marks ofdisgraceaffixed to anescutcheon.

Synonyms

• (lessening):assuagement,declension,decline,decrease,deduction,depreciation,diminution,discount,drawback,ebb,evanishment,fading,lessening,lowering,mitigation,moderation,reduction,remission,settling,sinking,subsidence,waning.See alsoThesaurus:diminution
• (in tax):allowance,rebate,remission

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of“lessening”):accession,accretion,aggrandizement,augmentation,development,dilation,enlargement,growth,increase,increment,

Derived terms

• abatement ab initio
• defense in abatement
• in abatement
• photoabatement
• plea in abatement
• tax abatement

Translations

the act of abating or the state of being abated

• Arabic:تَقْلِيلm(taqlīl),إِنْقَاصm(ʔinqāṣ),إضْعَافm(ʔiḍʕāf)

  Egyptian Arabic:تقليلm(taʔlil),تنقيصm(tanʔīṣ),اضعافm(eḍʕāff)

• Dutch:afname(nl),afslag(nl),inkrimping(nl),korting(nl),vermindering(nl),verzachting(nl)
• Finnish:vähennys(fi),lievennys
• French:réduction(fr)f
• German:Abnahme(de)f,Verminderung(de)f,Verringerung(de)f,Unterdrückung(de)f
• Interlingua:diminution
• Irish:laghdúm,lagúm
• Italian:riduzione(it)
• Manx:lhaggagh(ey)m,meeinagheym,sloateilf,tuittymm,traihm
• Maori:māwhetanga,tāngangaotanga(of the sea)
• Norwegian:minking,reduksjon(no),det å avta,bekjempelse
• Occitan:abatementm
• Ottoman Turkish:اكرام(ikram)(of price)
• Portuguese:abatimento(pt),extenuação
• Russian:сниже́ние(ru)n(snižénije),уменьше́ние(ru)n(umenʹšénije)
• Spanish:disminución(es)f

(accounting) The deduction of minor revenues incidental to an operation

• French:défalcation(fr)f
• Italian:calo(it),ribasso(it),riduzione(it)

(law) The action of a person that abates

(law) The reduction of the proceeds of a will

An amount abated

• French:réduction(fr)f,diminution(fr)f,abattement(fr)m,dégrèvement(fr)m,crédit(fr)m,déduction(fr)f
• Italian:diminuzione(it),riduzione(it)

(heraldry) A mark of dishonor on an escutcheon

• French:abaissement(fr)m

(Scotland) Waste of stuff in preparing to size

Further reading

• Abatementin theEncyclopædia Britannica(11th edition, 1911)
• The Manual of Heraldry,Fifth Edition, by Anonymous, London, 1862, online at[1]