ABA 
ABASSI, or Agassis, [ a filvereoiri current in Perfia, 
equivalent in value to a French livre, or ten-pence half¬ 
penny flcrli'rig. It ‘took its name' from Schah Abas II. 
ki rig of Perfia, it nder Whom it was ft ruck. 
To ABATE, v. a. [ abbatre, Fr. to beat down.] To 
le fieri, to diminifh ; to dejeft, or dcprcfs the mind. In 
commerce, to let down the price in felling, fometimes to 
beat down the price in buying. 
To Abate, v. n. Togrdwlefs; as, his paflion abates ; 
the Horn', abates. It is ufed fometimes with the particle 
e/before the thing lelfened.—In procefs of time fome dif- 
eafes have abated of their virulence. Dryden .—In horfe- 
manfnip, a ho'rfe is laid to abate or take down his cur¬ 
vets, when, w orking upon curvets, he puts his two hind 
legs to the ground both at once, and obferves the fame ex- 
adtnefs in all the times. 
ABAT£iVIENT,yi [ abatement , Fr.] The aft of aba¬ 
ting or lelfening. The Hate of being abated.—Coffee has 
an oil ftrongly combined and entangled with earthy par¬ 
ticles ; the mod noxious part of the oil exhales in roafting, 
to the abatement of near one quarter of its weight. Arbuthnol. 
•—The fum or quantity taken away by the aCt of abating.— 
The law of works is that law, which requires perfedt 
obedience, without remiffion or abatement. Locke .—The 
caufe of abating; extenuation.—We cannot plead in abate¬ 
ment of our guilt, that we were ignorant of our duty, un¬ 
der the prepofieffion of ill habits, and the bias of a wrong 
education. Atterbuty. 
Abatement inlaw, is ufed in three fenfes : Thefirft 
is that of removing or beating down a nufance. In which 
refpeCt, the perfon aggrieved by the nufance may abate or 
remove the fame without the formality of an adtion, fo 
as he commit no riot in the doing of it. If a houfe or wall 
is ereiSted fo near to mine, that it flops my ancient lights 
(which is a private nufance), I may enter my neighbour’s 
land and peaceably pull it down. Dr if a new gate be 
erected acrofs the king’s highway (which is a public nu¬ 
fance), any of the king’s fubjefts palling that way may 
cut it down and delfroy it. And the reafon why tlie law 
allows this fummary method of doing one’s feif juftice is, 
becaufe injuries of this kind require an immediate remedy, 
and cannot wait for the How progrefsof the ordinary forms 
of juftice. 3 Blackjl. 5. 
The fecond fignification of abatement is, the defeating 
or overthrowing of an adfion, by fome defedt in the pro¬ 
ceedings; as where exception is taken to the infufticiency 
of the matter; to the incertainty of the allegation, by mif- 
naming either of the parties, or the place ; to the variance 
between the writ and the fpecialty or record ; to the in¬ 
certainty of the writ or declaration ; or to the death of 
either of the parties before judgment had. For thefe and 
many Other caufes, the defendant oftentimes prays, that 
the fuit of the plaintiff may for that time ceafe. And in 
cafe of abatement in thefe refpefts, all writs and procefs 
muft begin de novo. In the cafe of an indidlmeht, on a 
criminal procefs, the defendant may plead in abatement, 
that his name is not as in the indidlment fpecified, or that 
they have given him a wrong addition, as yeoman inftead 
of gentleman ; and if the jury find it fo, the indidfment 
Ihall abate. But in the end, there is little advantage ac¬ 
cruing to the defendant by means of this kind of dilatory 
plea; becaufe, if the exception be allowed, a new bill of 
kididfment may be framed, according to what the prifoner 
in his plea avers to be the true name and addition. For it 
is a rule, upon all pleas in abatement, that he, who takes 
advantage of a flaw, muft at the fame time Ihew how it may 
be amended. 4 Blackjl. 335. 
The third fpecies of abatement is, where the rightful 
poireflion or freehold of the heir or devifee is defeated or 
overthrown by the intervention of a ftranger. And here¬ 
in it differs from intrufion, which is the entry of a ftranger 
after a particular eftate of freehold is determined, before 
him in remainder or reverfion. An abatement is always 
fo the prejudice of the heir or immediate devifee ; an in- 
f'rufton is always to the prejudice of the remainder-man or 
ABB 7 
reverfionor. For example: If a man dieth feized of lands 
in fee Ample, and before the entry of his heir, a ftranger 
enters thereon, this is an abatement; but if a man be te¬ 
nant for life, with remainder to another in fee, and after 
the death of the tenant for life a ftranger enters, this is an 
intrufion. The remedy in abatement or intrufion may be 
by entry, without the parties being put about to bring 
their aCtion : for as the original entry of the wrong-doer 
was unlawful, this may therefore be remedied by the mere 
entry of him who hath right; unlefs a defcent hath been 
call, which gives the heir of the abator or intruder a 
colourable title, and therefore he Ihall not be oufted but 
by another making out a better claim. 3 Blackjl. 175. 
Abatement, in heraldry, an accidental mark, which 
being added to a coat of arms, the dignity of it is abafed, by 
reafon of fome ftain or difhonourable quality of the bearer. 
Abatement, in the cuftoms, an allowance made upon 
the duty of goods, when the quantum damaged is deter¬ 
mined by the judgment of two merchants upon oath, and 
afcertained by a certificate from the furveyor and land- 
waiter. 
A B ATI ON, an ereClion at Rhodes, as a fence to the 
trophy of Artemilia, queen of Halicarnafius, Coos, &c-> 
raifed in memory of her victory over the Rhodians ; or 
rather as a lcreen to conceal the difgrace of the Rhodians 
from the eyes of the world, the effacing or deftrc'Jfdg the 
trophy being with them a point of religion. 
ABATIS, or Abattis,^ {abattre, Fr. ] Tothrowdown 
or beat down. In the military art, it denoted a kind of 
retrenchment made by a quantity of whole trees cut down, 
and laid lengthways belide each other, the clofer the bet¬ 
ter, -having all their branches pointed towards the enemy,, 
which prevents his approach, at the fame time that the- 
trunks ferve as a breaft-work before the men. The ab- 
batis is a very ufeful work on mod occafions, efpecially on 
fudden emergencies, when trees are near at hand; and has- 
always been practifed, with coniiderable fuccefs, by the 
ableft commanders- in all ages and nations. 
Abatis, an ancient term for anofficerof the ftables. 
ABATER, f. The agent or caufe by which an abate¬ 
ment is procured ; that by which any thing is leffened. 
ABATOR, f. A law term. One who intrudes into 
houfes or land, void by the death of the former pofleffor, 
and yet not entered upon or taken up by his heir, as de- 
fcribed above. 
ABATUDE, f. In old records, any thing diminiftied. 
ABATURE,y. [ abatre , Fr.] Thofe fprigs of grafts* 
which are thrown down by a flag in his paffmg by. 
ABATOS, an ifland of Egypt, in the Lake Moeris. 
It was famous for being the fepulchre of Ofiris, and for 
producing the papyrus plant, of which the ancients made 
their paper. 
ABAVO, f. in botany, a fynonime of the Adansonia. 
ABB, f. a term among clothiers, applied to the yarn of 
a weaver’s Warp. They fay alfo abb-wool in the fame fenfe. 
ABBA, in the Syriac and Chaldee languages, fignifies 
father; and figuratively, a fuperior, reputed as a father 
in refpedt of age, dignity, or affection. It is more par¬ 
ticularly ufed in the Syriac, Coptic, and Ethiopic, churches, 
as a title given to the bilhops. The biihops themfelves 
beftow the title Abba more eminently on the bifliop of 
Alexandria; which occafioned the people to give him the 
title of Baba or Papa, that is, Grandfather-, a title which he 
bore before the biihop of Rome. It is a Jewifh titjfe of 
honour given to certain rabbins called Tanaites: and it is 
alfo ufed, by fome writers of the middle age, for the fupe¬ 
rior of a monaftery, ufually called abbot. 
ABBACY. J'. [ abbatia , Lat.J The rights or privileges 
of an abbot.—According' to Felinus, an abbacy is the. 
dignity itfelf, fince an abbot is a term or word of dignity 
and not of office; arid, therefore, even a fecular pfrfon, 
who has the care of fouls, is fometimes, in the canon law, 
alfo ftiled an abbot. 
ABBA DIE (James), an eminent proteftant divine, born 
at Nay in Bern, 1111654; firlt educated under the famous 
John 
