self-abandonmentn.
/ˌsɛlfəˈband(ə)nm(ə)nt/, U.S. /ˌsɛlfəˈbændənm(ə)nt/ 1. Relinquishment or forsaking of one's needs, desires, identity, position, will, etc.; the giving up of oneself (to or for another or others); self-renunciation.In early use often in negative sense, implying a lack or loss of self-worth or self-respect; cf. self-abandoned adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > morally elevated quality > unselfishness > [noun] > self-denial > self-renunciation or abnegation
abnegation1623
self-annihilation1641
self-abnegation1647
self-renunciation1654
self-abandonment1777
self-renouncement1821
1777 Public Advertiser 23 May That general Self-abandonment then and Abjection of Spirit..is, surely, not the least of the causes of the Public Despair.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor iii, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. II. 65 The..generous self-abandonment with which the Master of Ravenswood renounced his feudal enmity.
1844 C. M. Kirkland Forest Life I. ix. 73 The utter self-abandonment—the wretched good-for-nothing-ness.
1882 Cent. Mag. July 378/1 He had no self-abandonment, no self-forgetfulness; he could not give himself to the birds or animals: they must surrender to him.
1937 H. Nicholson Meaning of Prestige 18 It is this spiritual loneliness..which explains his self-abandonment to the State.
1953 Furrow 4 565 But what is any militia if not an altruism, an absolute self-abandonment to a collective interest?
2004 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 28 Mar. 11 A life that requires ‘the entire subjugation of the ego’ and a degree of self-abandonment that had proved beyond her.
2. Surrender of oneself to an influence, passion, emotion, etc., or to natural impulses; (also) lack of inhibition or restraint.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > unaffectedness or naturalness > [noun] > naturalness or lack of constraint
unconstrainedness1656
shamelessness1667
unconstraint1713
self-abandonment1811
abandon1815
abandonment1834
self-abandon1837
free-and-easiness1842
1811 Examiner 20 Oct. 680/1 Mr. Lewis's countenance is too fair to be so expressive as his father's; and he wants the self-abandonment of his parent.
1848 Knickerbocker Dec. 507 Once among the buffalo, the hunter..dashes forward in utter recklessness and self-abandonment.
1881 Cornhill Mag. Mar. 312 Alone in this elemental overture to tempest I..felt through self-abandonment to the symphonic influence how [etc.].
1923 W. O. E. Oesterley Sacred Dance v. 54 The self-abandonment of this dancing can be imagined in the light of Michal's jibe that the king had shamelessly uncovered himself.
1976 P. Broome & G. Chesters Anthol. Mod. French Poetry 23 The endless conflict between..wilful self-possession and the pleasures of self-abandonment.
2010 Independent Extra (Nexis) 13 Oct. 14 Childhood impulses of self-abandonment seem to reassert themselves.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1777