abate

Meanings

Noun

• Abatement; reduction; an instance of this.
• Deduction; subtraction; an instance of this.
• An Italian abbot or other member of the clergy.

Verb

• To enter upon and unlawfully seize (land) after the owner has died, thus preventing an heir from taking possession of it.

Origin

• + battere, battuere (the present active infinitive of battuō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰ-).
• The noun is derived from the verb.
• + Middle French, Old French batre (from Latin battere, battuere, the present active infinitive of battuō; see further at etymology 1). The English word was probably also influenced by the verb abate.
• Borrowed from Italian abate, from Latin abbātem, the accusative singular of abbās, from Ancient Greek ἀββᾶς, a variant of ἀββᾱ, from Aramaic אַבָּא, from Proto-Semitic *ʔabw-, ultimately imitative of a child’s word for “father”. The English word is a abbot.