abstention

Meaning

Noun

• The act of restraining oneself.
• The act of abstaining; a holding aloof; refraining from.
• The act of declining to vote on a particular issue.
• Non-participation in the political world; as a country avoiding international affairs.

Origin

• First attested in 1521. Borrowed from French abstention, from Late Latin abstēntiō from Latin abstinēō ("withhold, to abstain")