Desuetude

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Desuetude \Des"ue*tude\, n. [L. desuetudo, from desuescere, to
     grow out of use, disuse; de + suescere to become used or
     accustomed: cf. F. d['e]su['e]tude. See {Custom}.]
     The cessation of use; disuse; discontinuance of practice,
     custom, or fashion.
     [1913 Webster]


  
           The desuetude abrogated the law, which, before, custom
           had established.                         --Jer. Taylor.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  desuetude
       n : a state of inactivity or disuse

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  35 Moby Thesaurus words for "desuetude":
     abandonment, absentation, abstention, abstinence, casting away,
     cease, cessation, close, closing, closure, conclusion,
     discontinuance, discontinuation, disuse, end, ending, evacuation,
     forsaking, jettison, jettisoning, leaving, nonemployment,
     nonprevalence, nonuse, obsolescence, obsoleteness, obsoletion,
     obsoletism, pensioning off, pulling out, retirement,
     superannuation, throwing overboard, unprevalence, withdrawal
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  DESUETUDE. This term is applied to laws which have become obsolete. (q.v.)