abolir

To abolish — formally end a law, institution, or practice, most often heard in historical and legal contexts like abolir la esclavitud (abolish slavery) or abolir la pena de muerte (abolish the death penalty). Traditionally classed as a defective verb usable only in forms with an 'i' in the ending, though the RAE now accepts a full conjugation.

• España abolió la esclavitud en sus colonias en 1886. — Spain abolished slavery in its colonies in 1886.
• El nuevo gobierno prometió abolir esa ley. — The new government promised to abolish that law.
• Varios países han abolido la pena de muerte. — Several countries have abolished the death penalty.

Older grammar guides mark abolir as defective, warning against forms like *abolo* (yo) — modern usage and the RAE now accept the full conjugation, but you'll still see writers avoid those forms out of habit, preferring paraphrases like voy a abolir.

• politics Real Decreto de abolición de la esclavitud en Cuba (1886) — The decree signed by King Alfonso XII on October 7, 1886, definitively abolishing slavery in Spain's remaining overseas colonies and freeing the roughly 30,000 people still enslaved in Cuba — Spain was the last major Western power to abolish slavery.