Literary notes about abridge (AI summary)
The term “abridge” appears in literature with a diverse range of meanings. In some works it is used very literally to denote the act of shortening—whether that means reducing the length of written texts or condensing long-winded accounts ([1], [2], [3]). In other contexts, writers use it metaphorically to signify the curtailment of broader concepts, such as limiting labor or freedom ([4], [5], [6], [7]). Its usage extends further to include even the truncation of names or the systematic elimination of distracting details, as in the case of modifying proper names for ease or clarity ([8], [9], [10]). This versatility highlights how “abridge” can serve both a practical, editorial function and a more figurative role in discussing limitations of liberty or expression.
- Here follows the brief Campaign that ensued, which I strive greatly to abridge.
— from History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 15 by Thomas Carlyle - So, I have seen fit to abridge it, and tell it in my own.
— from The Motor Girls on Waters Blue; Or, the Strange Cruise of the Tartar by Margaret Penrose - We abridge this account from a contribution to the Book of Days .
— from English Eccentrics and Eccentricities by John Timbs - First, of all useful machines and instruments of trade, which facilitate and abridge labour.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - The burden of proof rests with those who would abridge liberty and impose an obligation.
— from Moral Philosophy: Ethics, Deontology and Natural Law by Joseph Rickaby - — "No law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press.
— from The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 11 (of 12)Dresden Edition—Miscellany by Robert Green Ingersoll - No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume II - To change his name, then, not his country, would have been his fit penalty: to abridge his name by this word, and be called simply L. Collatinus.
— from The City of God, Volume I by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine - I understood, too, that discretion required me to change the proper names, and, above all, abridge the anecdotes.
— from On Love by Stendhal - I abridge nothing I have ever bestowed upon her.
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens
