Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Abuse in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels abuse as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Abuse

[F. abus, L. abusus, fr. abuti. See Abuse, v. t.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordabuse
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[F. abus, L. abusus, fr. abuti. See Abuse, v. t.]
Selected historical definitionImproper treatment or use; application to a wrong or bad purpose; misuse; as, an abuse of our natural powers; an abuse of civil rights, or of privileges or advantages; an abuse of language.
Signed record IDwebster1913-abuse-noun-8ab099312f18
Source locatorCIDE.A, paragraph 1131; Gutenberg eBook 660
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 660Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "abuse" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[F. abus, L. abusus, fr. abuti. See Abuse, v. t.]" The selected historical definition says: "Improper treatment or use; application to a wrong or bad purpose; misuse; as, an abuse of our natural powers; an abuse of civil rights, or of privileges or advantages; an abuse of language."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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