abstain 復習
Russia bears the ultimate responsibility for suspected chemical weapons attacks committed by the Syrian regime, the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has said.
Tillerson’s comments came a day after reports of a fresh chemical weapons attack in the rebel enclave of East Ghouta, which injured more than 20 people, most of them children. …
“Whoever conducted the attacks, Russia ultimately bears responsibility for the victims in East Ghouta and countless other Syrians targeted with chemical weapons, since Russia became involved in Syria,” Tillerson told reporters.
“There is simply no denying that Russia, by shielding its Syrian ally, has breached its commitments to the US as a framework guarantor. At a bare minimum, Russia must stop vetoing, or at the very least abstain, from future security council votes on this issue,” he added. (SKip the rest)
今回取り上げる語は、abstain /əbˈsteɪn/ です。まず意味を確認します。LDOCEをみると “to choose not to vote for or against something” “to not do or have something you enjoy, especially alcohol or sex, usually for reasons of religion or health” と定義されています。『ウィズダム英和辞典』(研究社)をみると「(1)(健康・道徳的観点などから) <…を> 慎む、自制する、控える、(2)(会議などで)<投票を>棄権する」とありました。
次に語源を確認します。OEDをみると “Late Middle English: from Old French abstenir, from Latin abstinere, from ab- ‘from’ + tenere ‘hold’.” とありました。(OKaUchi)
