abstain

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
abstain/əbˈsteɪn/

▶verb

• 1 (often abstain from) restrain oneself from doing something.

• 2 formally decline to vote.

– derivatives
abstainer noun.

– origin ME: from OFr. abstenir, from L. abstinere, from ab- ‘from’ + tenere ‘hold’.