Treats someone or something with cruelty or violence, or misuses something; cruel or violent treatment, or improper use.
From Old French 'abuser,' derived from Latin 'abusus' (past participle of 'abuti,' meaning 'to misuse'), from 'ab-' (away) and 'uti' (to use).
The word originally just meant 'using something wrong'—like abusing a privilege—but over time the meaning shifted to emphasize the harm caused, reflecting how society's understanding of harm evolved.
Abuse of women and girls has been systematically underreported and minimized by legal and social systems; language around 'abuse' historically treated gender-based harm as private matter rather than crime.
Name specific forms of abuse (sexual, domestic, emotional) rather than generic reference; center survivor perspectives; avoid passive voice that obscures perpetrator.
["harm","violence","assault","exploitation"]
Feminist activists and survivor advocates transformed 'abuse' from hidden shame into named, prosecutable harm, building legal frameworks (domestic violence law, sexual assault statutes) that initially lacked terminology.
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