abandonment

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
abandon/əˈbandən/

▶verb

• 1 give up (an action or practice) completely.

• 2 desert or leave permanently.

• 3 (abandon oneself to) indulge in (a desire or impulse) without restraint.

  ■ (as adj. abandoned) unrestrained; uninhibited: a wild, abandoned dance.

▶noun lack of inhibition or restraint.

– phrases
abandon ship leave a ship because it is sinking.

– derivatives
abandonment noun.

– origin ME: from OFr. abandoner, from a- (from L. ad ‘to, at’) + bandon ‘control’ (rel. to ban1).