abortive
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L307877 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /əˈbɔɹ.tɪv/ / /əˈbɔː.tɪv/
adj
Etymology: 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”).
- Produced by abortion; born prematurely and therefore unnatural.
“an abortive child”
“Thou elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog!”
- Coming to nothing; failing in its effect. .
“an abortive attempt”
“[…] and with utter loss of being / Threatens him, plung'd in that abortive gulf.”
- Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile.
“an abortive organ”
“an abortive stamen”
- Causing abortion; abortifacient.
“abortive medicines”
“Each country may have a different prevalence of infectious abortive agents. The most common agents of abortion in cattle are Brucella spp., Campylobacter spp., Chlamydiaceae, Coxiella burnetii, Leptospira spp., […]”
- Cutting short; acting to halt or slow the progress (of a disease).
“abortive treatment of typhoid fever”
“Even with prophylaxis, children often experience episodic breakthrough headaches that require abortive treatment. […] Abortive therapies in the ED include dopamine antagonists and anti-inflammatory agents.”
- Having a short and mild progression, without pronounced symptoms.
- Made from the skin of a still-born animal.
“abortive vellum”
noun
Etymology: 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”).
- Someone or something born or brought forth prematurely; an abortion.
- A fruitless effort.
- A medicine that causes abortion, an abortifacient.
- A medicine or treatment acting to halt or slow the progress of a disease.
“Naphthalin was praised by Rosbach as an abortive in typhoid fever; Kraemer in 1886, Wilcox in 1887, Sehwald in 1889 and Wolff of Philadelphia in 1891 confirmed Rosbach's observations.”
verb
Etymology: 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”).
- To cause an abortion; to render without fruit.