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abortive.

Produced by abortion; born prematurely and therefore unnatural.

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/əˈbɔɹ.tɪv/US/əˈbɔː.tɪv/Received-Pronunciation

  1. Produced by abortion; born prematurely and therefore unnatural.

    obsolete
    an abortive child

  2. Coming to nothing; failing in its effect. .

    an abortive attempt

  3. Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile.

    an abortive organ
    an abortive stamen

  4. Causing abortion; abortifacient.

    rare

  5. Cutting short; acting to halt or slow the progress (of a disease).

    abortive treatment of typhoid fever

  6. Having a short and mild progression, without pronounced symptoms.

  7. Made from the skin of a still-born animal.

    abortive vellum
Where this word comes from

First attested in 1382, with the meaning "causing stillbirth or miscarriage". From Middle English abortif, from Old French abortif, from Latin abortīvus (“causing abortion”), from aborior (“miscarry, disappear”), from ab (“amiss”) + orior (“appear, be born, arise”).

noun/əˈbɔɹ.tɪv/US/əˈbɔː.tɪv/Received-Pronunciation

  1. Someone or something born or brought forth prematurely; an abortion.

    obsolete

  2. A fruitless effort.

    obsolete

  3. A medicine that causes abortion, an abortifacient.

    obsolete

  4. A medicine or treatment acting to halt or slow the progress of a disease.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

First attested in 1382, with the meaning "causing stillbirth or miscarriage". From Middle English abortif, from Old French abortif, from Latin abortīvus (“causing abortion”), from aborior (“miscarry, disappear”), from ab (“amiss”) + orior (“appear, be born, arise”).

verb/əˈbɔɹ.tɪv/US/əˈbɔː.tɪv/Received-Pronunciation

  1. To cause an abortion; to render without fruit.

    obsolete · transitive
Where this word comes from

First attested in 1382, with the meaning "causing stillbirth or miscarriage". From Middle English abortif, from Old French abortif, from Latin abortīvus (“causing abortion”), from aborior (“miscarry, disappear”), from ab (“amiss”) + orior (“appear, be born, arise”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.