abridgment

Noun

abridgment (countable and uncountable, plural abridgments)

1. (US) The act of abridging; reduction or deprivation
   • an abridgment of pleasures or of expenses

   Synonyms:

   diminution, lessening, shortening, compendium, epitome, abstract, synopsis, précis

2. (US) The state of being abridged or lessened.
3. (US) An epitome or compend, as of a book; a shortened or abridged form; an abbreviation.
   • The article which embodied my researches having proved somewhat too long for its purpose, an abridgment of it only was inserted in the Encyclopædia.1910, James George Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, volume 1, page viii
   • When the goal is simply to be as faithful as possible to the material—as if a movie were a marriage, and a rights contract the vow—the best result is a skillful abridgment, one that hits all the important marks without losing anything egregious.2012 March 22, Scott Tobias, “The Hunger Games”, in AV Club
4. (obsolete) That which abridges or cuts short; hence, an entertainment that makes the time pass quickly
   • What abridgment have you for this evening? What masque? what music?1605, Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, V-i
5. (dated) Any of various brief statements of case law made before modern reporting of legal cases.
6. The leaving out of certain portions of a plaintiff's demand, the writ still holding good for the remainder.