""to rub or wear away; rub or scrape off," 1670s, from Latin abradere "to scrape off, shave away," from ab "off" (see ab-) + radere "to scrape" (possibly from an extended form of PIE root *red- "to scrape, scratch, gnaw"). Abrase, from the stem of the Latin verb, is attested from 1590s. Related: Abraded; abrading.
