From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishabstentionab‧sten‧tion /əbˈstenʃən/ noun 1 PPV[countable, uncountable] an act of not voting for or against something The draft law was passed by 134 votes to 19, with 5 abstentions.2 [uncountable] formal when you do not do something you enjoy doingabstention from fasting and abstention from intoxicating drinks
Examples from the Corpus
abstention• Piatakov's resolution was defeated by 48 to 11, with 19 abstentions.• On July 23 he presented the new Cabinet which was approved by 70 votes to two with eight abstentions.• The Senate had already approved the treaty on Sept. 17 by 176 votes to 16 with one abstention.• In the Volkskammer approval was by 299 votes to 80 with one abstention.• The declaration was passed by 355 votes to four with one abstention.• The overall abstention rate was reported to be as high as 55 percent of the electorate of 2,200,000.• The motion to reject the small constitution failed by 18 votes to 63 with three abstentions.Origin abstention (1500-1600) Late Latin abstentio, from Latin abstinere; → ABSTAIN 