desuetude

== English == === Etymology === From Late Middle English desuetude, dissuetude (“discontinuance of a practice, disuse”), from Middle French désuétude (“obsolescence”) (modern French désuétude), from Latin dēsuētūdo (“discontinuance of a practice or a habit, disuse”), from dēsuētus + -tūdō (“suffix forming abstract nouns indicating conditions or states”). Dēsuētus is the perfect passive participle of dēsuēscō (“to make unaccustomed”), from de- (prefix having a reversing or undoing effect) + suēscō (“to become accustomed or used to; (Late Latin) to accustom, habituate, train”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“self”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”), in the sense “to set as one’s own”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈdɛswɪtjuːd/, /dɪˈs(j)uːɪtjuːd/, /-tʃuːd/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈdɛswəˌt(j)ud/, /dəˈsuəˌtud/ Hyphenation: de‧su‧e‧tude === Noun === desuetude (countable and uncountable, plural desuetudes) (formal) (uncountable) The state when something (for example, a custom or a law) is no longer observed nor practised; disuse, obsolescence. Synonyms: disuse, inusitation, obsoleteness; see also Thesaurus:obsolescence (countable) An instance of this. (countable, obsolete) Chiefly followed by from or of: a cessation of practising or using something. ==== Related terms ==== desuete ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === desuetude on Wikipedia.Wikipedia