abortive

First attested in 1382, with the meaning "causing stillbirth or miscarriage". From Middle English abortif, from Old French abortif,^[1] from Latin abortīvus (“causing abortion”), from aborior (“miscarry, disappear”), from ab (“amiss”) + orior (“appear, be born, arise”).^[2]

• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈbɔɹ.tɪv/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈbɔː.tɪv/

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abortive (comparative more abortive, superlative most abortive)

1. (obsolete) Produced by abortion; born prematurely and therefore unnatural. [c. 1400–mid 1700s]^[1]

   an abortive child

   • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     Thou elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog!

2. Coming to nothing; failing in its effect. [from late 1500s].^[1]

   Synonyms: miscarrying, fruitless, unsuccessful, useless

   an abortive attempt

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, published 1799:

     […] and with utter loss of being / Threatens him, plung'd in that abortive gulf.

   • 1838, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella:

     The king in vain excused his hasty retreats and abortive enterprises

   • 1851 April 9, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields:

     He made a salutation, or, to speak nearer the truth, an ill-defined, abortive attempt at curtsy.

3. (biology) Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile. [from mid 1700s]^[1]

   an abortive organ

   an abortive stamen

   an abortive ovule

4. (medicine, pharmacology, rare) Causing abortion; abortifacient.
   • 1809, Bartholomew Parr, Medical Dictionary:

     abortive medicines

   • 2018 May, Carla Sebastiania, Ludovica Curcioa, Marcella Ciulloa, Deborah Crucianib, Silvia Crottib, Cristina Pescab, Martina Torricellia, Martina Sebastianellia, Andrea Felicic, Massimo Biagetti, “A multi-screening Fast qPCR approach to the identification of abortive agents in ruminants”, in Journal of Microbiological Methods, volume 148, →DOI, page 12:

     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., […]

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

   abortive treatment of typhoid fever

   • 2016 December, David C. Sheridan, Garth D. Meckler, “Inpatient Pediatric Migraine Treatment: Does Choice of Abortive Therapy Affect Length of Stay?”, in The Journal of Pediatrics, volume 179, →DOI, page 211:

     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.

6. (medicine, of a disease) Having a short and mild progression, without pronounced symptoms.
7. Made from the skin of a still-born animal.

   abortive vellum

abortive (plural abortives)

1. (obsolete) Someone or something born or brought forth prematurely; an abortion. [Attested from around (1150 to 1350) until the mid 18^th century.]^[1]
2. (obsolete) A fruitless effort. [Attested from the early 17^th century until the early 18^th century.]^[1]
3. (obsolete) A medicine that causes abortion, an abortifacient.
4. (obsolete) A medicine or treatment acting to halt or slow the progress of a disease.
   • 1897 August 7, E. Viko, “On the Treatment of Typhoid Fever”, in The Journal of the American Medical Association, volume 29, number 6, Chicago, Ill., →DOI, page 274:

     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.

abortive (third-person singular simple present abortives, present participle abortiving, simple past and past participle abortived)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To cause an abortion; to render without fruit. [Attested only in the 17^th century.]^[1]

• “abortive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• IPA^(key): /a.bɔʁ.tiv/

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• Homophone: abortives

abortive

1. feminine singular of abortif

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abortive

1. inflection of abortiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

• IPA^(key): /a.borˈti.ve/
• Rhymes: -ive
• Hyphenation: a‧bor‧tì‧ve

abortive

1. feminine plural of abortivo

• breviato

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /a.borˈtiː.u̯e/, [äbɔrˈt̪iːu̯ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /a.borˈti.ve/, [äborˈt̪iːve]

abortīve

1. vocative masculine singular of abortīvus

• IPA^(key): /abɔˈʈiːʋə/, /abɔʁˈtiːʋə/

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• Rhymes: -iːʋə
• Hyphenation: ab‧or‧ti‧ve
• Homophone: abortivet

abortive

1. definite singular of abortiv
2. plural of abortiv