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abortive

adj
/əˈbɔɹ.tɪv/US/əˈbɔː.tɪv/UK

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”).

  1. derived from abortīvus
  2. derived from abortif
  3. inherited from abortif

Definitions

  1. Produced by abortion

    Produced by abortion; born prematurely and therefore unnatural.

    • an abortive child
    • Thou elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog!

  2. Coming to nothing

    Coming to nothing; failing in its effect. .

    • an abortive attempt
    • […] and with utter loss of being / Threatens him, plung'd in that abortive gulf.
    • The king in vain excused his hasty retreats and abortive enterprises

  3. Imperfectly formed or developed

    Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile.

    • an abortive organ
    • an abortive stamen
    • an abortive ovule
  4. ›+ 9 more definitions

    1. Causing abortion

      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., […]

    2. Cutting short

      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.

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

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

      • abortive vellum

    5. Someone or something born or brought forth prematurely

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

    6. A fruitless effort.

    7. A medicine that causes abortion, an abortifacient.

    8. 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.

    9. To cause an abortion

      To cause an abortion; to render without fruit.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for abortive. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA