abstention
noun
[ əbˈstɛnʃ(ə)n ]
• an instance of declining to vote for or against a proposal or motion.
• "a resolution passed by 126 votes to none, with six abstentions"
Similar:
refusal to vote,
abstaining,
non-voting,
sitting on the fence,
• restraint in one's consumption; abstinence.
• "alcohol consumption versus abstention"
Similar:
teetotalism,
temperance,
sobriety,
abstemiousness,
abstinence,
nephalism,
celibacy,
chastity,
singleness,
continence,
virginity,
self-restraint,
self-denial,
bachelorhood,
spinsterhood,
refraining,
desisting,
holding back,
forbearing,
keeping,
withholding,
renunciation of,
refusal of,
declining,
avoidance of,
eschewal of,
abjuration of,
shunning,
forgoing,
going without,
doing without,
Origin:
early 16th century (denoting the action of keeping back or restraining): from late Latin abstentio(n- ), from the verb abstinere (see abstain).
