Abolish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abolished; p. pr. & vb. n. Abolishing.]
Etymology: [F. abolir, L. abolere, aboletum; ab + olere to grow. Cf. Finish.]
1. To do away with wholly; to annul; to make void; -- said of laws, customs, institutions, governments, etc.; as, to abolish slavery, to abolish folly.
2. To put an end to, or destroy, as a physical objects; to wipe out. [Archaic] And with thy blood abolish so reproachful blot. Spenser. His quick instinctive hand Caught at the hilt, as to abolish him. Tennyson.
Syn. -- To Abolish, Repeal, Abrogate, Revoke, Annul, Nullify, Cancel. These words have in common the idea of setting aside by some overruling act. Abolish applies particularly to things of a permanent nature, such as institutions, usages, customs, etc.; as, to abolish monopolies, serfdom, slavery. Repeal describes the act by which the legislature of a state sets aside a law which it had previously enacted. Abrogate was originally applied to the repeal of a law by the Roman people; and hence, when the power of making laws was usurped by the emperors, the term was applied to their act of setting aside the laws. Thus it came to express that act by which a sovereign or an executive government sets aside laws, ordinances, regulations, treaties, conventions, etc. Revoke denotes the act or recalling some previous grant which conferred, privilege, etc.; as, to revoke a decree, to revoke a power of attorney, a promise, etc. Thus, also, we speak of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Annul is used in a more general sense, denoting simply to make void; as, to annul a contract, to annul an agreement. Nullify is an old word revived in this country, and applied to the setting of things aside either by force or by total disregard; as, to nullify an act of Congress. Cancel is to strike out or annul, by a deliberate exercise of power, something which has operative force.
Shades of meaning
Abolish, to do away with, bring absolutely to an end, especially as something hostile, hindering, or harmful, was formerly used of persons and material objects, a usage now obsolete except in poetry or highly figurative speech. Abolish is now used of institutions, customs, and conditions, especially those wide-spread and long existing; as, to abolish slavery, ignorance, intemperance, poverty. A building that is burned to the ground is said to be destroyed by fire. Annihilate, as a philosophical term, signifies to put absolutely out of existence. As far as our knowledge goes, matter is never annihilated, but only changes its form. Some believe that the wicked will be annihilated. Abolish is not said of laws. There we use repeal, abrogate, nullify, etc.: repeal by the enacting body, nullify by revolutionary proceedings; a later statute abrogates, without formally repealing, any earlier law with which it conflicts. An appellate court may reverse or set aside the decision of an inferior court. Overthrow may be used in either a good or a bad sense; suppress is commonly in a good, subvert always in a bad sense; as, to subvert our liberties; to suppress a rebellion. The law prohibits what may never have existed; it abolishes an existing evil. We abate a nuisance, terminate a controversy. Compare cancel; demolish; exterminate.