The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Abandonment \A*ban"don*ment\ (-ment), n. [Cf. F. abandonnement.]
   1. The act of abandoning, or the state of being abandoned;
      total desertion; relinquishment.
      [1913 Webster]

            The abandonment of the independence of Europe.
                                                  --Burke.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Mar. Law) The relinquishment by the insured to the
      underwriters of what may remain of the property insured
      after a loss or damage by a peril insured against.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Com. Law)
      (a) The relinquishment of a right, claim, or privilege, as
          to mill site, etc.
      (b) The voluntary leaving of a person to whom one is bound
          by a special relation, as a wife, husband, or child;
          desertion.
          [1913 Webster]

   4. Careless freedom or ease; abandon. [R.] --Carlyle.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

abandonment
    n 1: the act of giving something up [syn: abandonment,
         forsaking, desertion]
    2: withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or
       responsibility; "his abandonment of his wife and children
       left them penniless" [syn: desertion, abandonment,
       defection]
    3: the voluntary surrender of property (or a right to property)
       without attempting to reclaim it or give it away

Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

ABANDONMENT, lights.  The relinquishment of a right; the giving up of
something to which we are entitled.
     2. Legal rights, when once vested, must be divested according to law,
but equitable rights may be abandoned. 2 Wash. R. 106.  See 1 H. & M. 429; a
mill site, once occupied, may be abandoned. 17 Mass. 297; an application for
land, which is an inception of title, 5 S. & R. 215; 2 S. & R. 378; 1
Yeates, 193, 289; 2 Yeates, 81, 88, 318; an improvement, 1 Yeates, 515 ; 2
Yeates, 476; 5 Binn. 73; 3 S. & R. 319; Jones' Syllabus of Land Office
Titles in Pennsylvania, chap. xx; and a trust fund, 3 Yerg. 258 may be
abandoned.
     3. The abandonment must be made by the owner without being pressed by
any duty, necessity or utility to himself, but simply because he wishes no
longer to possess the thing; and further it must be made without any desire
that any other person shall acquire the same; for if it were made for a
consideration, it would be a sale or barter, and if without consideration,
but with an intention that some other person should become the possessor, it
would be a gift: and it would still be a gift though the owner might be
indifferent as to whom the right should be transferred; for example, he
threw money among a crowd with intent that some one should acquire the title
to it.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

ABANDONMENT, contracts.  In the French law, the act by which a debtor
surrenders his property for the benefit of his creditors. Merl. Rep. mot
Abandonment.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

ABANDONMENT, contracts.  In insurances the act by which the insured
relinquishes to the assurer all the property to the thing insured.
     2. No particular form is required for an abandonment, nor need it be in
writing; but it must be explicit and absolute, and must set forth the
reasons upon which it is founded.
     3. It must also be made in reasonable time after the loss.
     4. It is not in every case of loss that the insured can abandon.  In the
following cases an abandonment may be made: when there is a total loss; when
the voyage is lost or not worth pursuing, by reason of a peril insured
against or if the cargo be so damaged as to be of little or no value; or
where the salvage is very high, and further expense be necessary, and the
insurer will not engage to bear it or if what is saved is of less value than
the freight; or where the damage exceeds one half of the value of the goods
insured or where the property is captured, or even detained by an indefinite
embargo ; and in cases of a like nature.
     5. The abandonment, when legally made transfers from the insured to the
insurer the property in the thing insured, and obliges him to pay to the
insured what he promised him by the contract of insurance. 3 Kent, Com. 265;
2 Marsh. Ins. 559  Pard. Dr. Coin. n. 836 et seq. Boulay Paty, Dr. Com.
Maritime, tit. 11, tom. 4, p. 215.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

ABANDONMENT.  In maritime contracts in the civil law, principals are
generally held indefinitely responsible for the obligations which their
agents have contracted relative to the concern of their commission but with
regard to ship owners there is remarkable peculiarity; they are bound by the
contract of the master only to the amount of their interest in the ship, and
can be discharged from their responsibility by abandoning the ship and
freight. Poth. Chartes part. s. 2, art. 3, Sec. 51; Ord. de la Mar. des
proprietaires, art. 2; Code de Com. 1. 2, t. 2, art. 216.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

ABANDONMENT for torts, a term used in the civil law.  By the Roman law, when
the master was sued for the tort of his slave, or the owner for a trespass
committed by his animal, he might abandon them to the person injured, and
thereby save himself from further responsibility.
     2. Similar provisions have been adopted in Louisiana.  It is enacted by
the civil code that the master shall be answerable for all the damages
occasioned by an offence or quasi offence committed by his slave.  He may,
however, discharge himself from such responsibility by abandoning the slave
to the person injured; in which case such person shall sell such slave at
public auction in the usual form; to obtain payment of the damages and
costs; and the balance, if any, shall be returned to the master of the
slave, who shall be completely discharged, although the price of the slave
should not be sufficient to pay the whole amount of the damages and costs;
provided that the master shall make abandonment within three days after the
judgment awarding such damages, shall have been rendered; provided also that
it shall not be proved that the crime or offence was committed by his order,
for in such cases the master shall be answerable for all damages resulting
therefrom, whatever be the amount, without being admitted to the benefit of
abandonment. Art. 180, 181.
     3. The owner of an animal is answerable for the damages he has caused;
but if the animal had been lost, or had strayed more than a day, he may
discharge himself from this responsibility, by abandoning him to the person
who has sustained the injury, except where the master has turned loose a
dangerous or noxious animal, for then he must pay for all the harm he has
done, without being allowed, to make the abandonment. Ib. art. 2301.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

ABANDONMENT, malicious.  The act of a husband or wife, who leaves his or her
consort willfully, and with an intention of causing perpetual separation.
     2. Such abandonment, when it has continued the length of time required
by the local statutes, is sufficient cause for a divorce. Vide 1 Hoff. R.
47; Divorce.