a·ban·don (-bndn)
tr.v. a·ban·doned, a·ban·don·ing, a·ban·dons
1. To withdraw one's support or help from, especially in spite of duty, allegiance, or responsibility; desert: abandon a friend in trouble.
2. To give up by leaving or ceasing to operate or inhabit, especially as a result of danger or other impending threat: abandoned the ship.
3. To surrender one's claim to, right to, or interest in; give up entirely. See Synonyms at relinquish.
4. To cease trying to continue; desist from: abandoned the search for the missing hiker.
5. To yield (oneself) completely, as to emotion.
n.
1. Unbounded enthusiasm; exuberance.
2. A complete surrender of inhibitions.
[Middle English abandounen, from Old French abandoner, from a bandon : a, at (from Latin ad; see ad-) + bandon, control; see bh-2 in Indo-European roots.]
I always liked the phrase "with wild abandon".abandon
1375, "to subjugate, subdue," from O.Fr. abandoner "surrender," from à "at, to" + bandon "power, jurisdiction," in phrase mettre à bandon "to give up to a public ban," from L. bannum, "proclamation," from a Frankish word related to ban (v.). Etymologically, the word carries a sense of "put someone under someone else's control." Meaning "to give up absolutely" is from 1386. The noun sense of "letting loose, surrender to natural impulses" (1822) is from Fr. abandon.
Bailey