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.