abolition

[In Fr. abolition; Ital. abolizione: fr. Lat. abolitio.] [ABOLISH.] I. The act of abolishing. 1. The act of annulling, erasing, effacing, destroying, or sweeping out of existence. 44 he would willingly consent to the entire abolition of the tax."- Macaulay : Hist . Eng ., ch. xi. 2. Law only: The giving by the sovereign or the judges leave to a prosecutor or a criminal accuser to desist from further prosecution. (25 Hen. VIII., с. 21.) II. The state of being abolished.