Etymograph

English

abuse

Abuse comes from Middle English abusen, ultimately from Latin abūtor ‘to misuse’ (ab ‘away’ + ūtor ‘to use’).

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabūtor‘to misuse, use up’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500abusen
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1601abuse

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabūtor‘to misuse, use up’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500abusen
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1601abuse

Earliest quotation: 1601, William Shakespeare, Hamlet: “Or is it some abuse, and no such thing?”

Formed from ab- + use

Proto-Indo-European *h₂epo ‘off, away’

English ab-

Proto-Italic *oitōr ‘to use’

Latin ūtor

Latin ūsus ‘use’

Old French us ‘tradition or custom’

Middle English use

English use

Every English word from Latin abūtor

Another origin of abuse

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabūtor‘to use up, misuse, consume’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEabūsus‘misused, using up’perfect active participle of abūtor
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600abuser
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500abusen‘to mislead’
  5. Englishtodayabuse

Today it means

noun Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin abūtor / abuse

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