abortive

English

Etymology

Latin abortīvus, from aborior (“miscarry”). See abort, (verb)

Adjective

abortive (comparative more abortive, superlative most abortive)

1. (rare) Produced by abortion; born prematurely; as an abortive child.
2. (obsolete) Made from the skin of a still-born animal; as an abortive vellum.
3. (obsolete) Rendering fruitless or ineffectual.

   • "Plunged in that abortive gulf." - John Milton

4. Coming to naught; failing in its effect; miscarrying; fruitless; unsuccessful; as, an abortive attempt.

   • An abortive enterprise. - William H. Prescott

5. (biology) Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile; as, an abortive organ, stamen, ovule, etc.
6. (medicine) Causing abortion; as, abortive medicines. - Parr
7. (medicine) Cutting short; as, abortive treatment of typhoid fever.

Translations

Produced by abortion; born prematurely; as, an abortive child.

German: abgetriebenes (de)

Made from the skin of a still-born animal

Rendering fruitless or ineffectual

German: erfolglos (de), wirkungslos (de)

Coming to naught; failing in its effect; miscarrying; fruitless; unsuccessful

Esperanto: aborta (eo) German: erfolglos (de) Persian: بی نتیجه (fa)

Polish: nieudany (pl) Spanish: fracasado (es), frustrado (es), malogrado (es)

Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile

German: unvollkommen (de), rudimentär (de)

Causing abortion; as, abortive medicines

Catalan: abortiu (ca) m., abortiva (ca) f.; avortiu (ca) m., avortiva (ca) f.

German: abtreibend (de)

Cutting short; as, abortive treatment of typhoid fever.

German: abbrechen (de)

Derived terms

• abortiveness

Noun

abortive (plural abortives)

1. (obsolete) That which is born or brought forth prematurely; an abortion.

   • "Thou elvish-mark'd, abortive, rooting hog!" - Shakespeare, Richard III, I-iii

2. (obsolete) A fruitless effort or issue.
3. (obsolete) A medicine to which is attributed the property of causing abortion, abortifacient - Dunglison

Translations

That which is born or brought forth prematurely; an abortion

German: Abort (de) m., Abtreibung (de) f., Interruptio (de) n.

A fruitless effort

German: Erfolglosigkeit (de) f.

A medicine

Catalan: abortiu (ca) m.

German: Abtreibungsmittel (de) n.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: abortif Interlingua: abortive Italian: abortito, abortivo Portuguese: abortivo Spanish: abortivo Vietnamese: đẻ non, non yếu, chết non chết yểu, sớm thất bại, không phát triển đầy đủ

References

• abortive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

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French

Adjective

abortive f.

1. feminine form of abortif

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Italian

Adjective

abortive f.

1. Feminine plural form of abortivo.

Anagrams

• breviato

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Latin

Adjective

abortīve

1. vocative masculine singular of abortīvus