Wordwyrt

abuse

/əbˈjuːs/uh-BYOOS
/əbˈjus/uh-BYOOS

Meaningto use wrongly; use gone astray

Common meaning: misuse

Other meanings: cruel treatment

‘away, off’ + ‘to use’ → abuse

Journey through time

  1. Latinūtor, ūsus; ūtilis‘to use’
  2. Old Frenchabusersource
  3. Middle Englishabusensource
  4. Englishabuse‘misuse’ · today

ab- also in: abhorabortaboundabruptabsorb

us also in: useusageusualutiliseutility

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin ūtor ‘to use; useful’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry ūtor, p. 1946 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

usageuseusualutiliseutility

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app