Noun

Severity of manners or life; extreme rigor or strictness; harsh discipline.

Freedom from adornment; plainness; severe simplicity.

(economics) A policy of deficit-cutting, which by definition requires lower spending, higher taxes, or both.

* {{quote-news

, year=2012 , date=April 23 , author=Angelique Chrisafis , title=François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=He said France clearly wanted to "close one page and open another". He reiterated his opposition to austerity alone as the only way out of Europe's crisis: "My final duty, and I know I'm being watched from beyond our borders, is to put Europe back on the path of growth and employment."}}

(obsolete) Sourness and harshness to the taste.

Noun

(-)

The act or practice of abstaining, refraining from indulging a desire or appetite.

Penance, fasts, and abstinence , / To punish bodies for the soul's offense. -

The abstinence from a present pleasure that offers itself is a pain, nay, oftentimes, a very great one. —

Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation. —

# Specifically, the practice of abstaining from intoxicating/alcoholic beverages; total abstinence; teetotalism).

# Specifically, the practice of abstaining from sexual intercourse, either permanently or until marriage.

# (ecclesiastical) Abstention from certain foods on days of penitential observance.

The practice of self-denial; self-restraint; forebearance from anything.

(obsolete) Self-denial; abstaining; or forebearance of anything.

(business) Delay of spending to accrue capital.