Ab*ste"mi*ous (#), a. [L. abstemius; ab, abs + root of temetum intoxicating drink.]

1.

Abstaining from wine.

[Orig. Latin sense.]

Under his special eye Abstemious I grew up and thrived amain. Milton.

2.

Sparing in diet; refraining from a free use of food and strong drinks; temperate; abstinent; sparing in the indulgence of the appetite or passions.

Instances of longevity are chiefly among the abstemious. Arbuthnot.

3.

Sparingly used; used with temperance or moderation; as, an abstemious diet.

Gibbon.

4.

Marked by, or spent in, abstinence; as, an abstemious life.

"One abstemious day."

Pope.

5.

Promotive of abstemiousness.

[R.]

Such is the virtue of the abstemious well. Dryden.

 

© Webster 1913.