abused

the word "abused" is built upon the verb "abuse," which entered english in the late 14th century from old french abuser, meaning "to misuse." the old french term derived from latin abūsus, the past participle of abūti, meaning "to misuse, waste, or consume." the latin verb itself is a compound of the prefix ab- ("away from") and ūti ("to use"). the literal sense, therefore, is "to use away from" the proper or intended purpose, implying a deviation into harmful or excessive application. the addition of the english adjectival suffix "-ed" transforms the past participle into an adjective describing the state of having been subjected to such improper or cruel treatment.

Structure: ab (away, from) + use (employ) + (e)d (adjective suffix) ab- (latin prefix meaning "away from" or "off"); use (from latin usus, meaning "to employ, to utilize"); -ed (old english suffix forming adjectives from nouns or verbs, indicating a state or condition).