abortion meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

abortion

noun

US /əˈbɔɹ.ʃn̩/

Etymology From Latin abortiōnem (“miscarriage, abortion”), from aborior (“to miscarry”). Equivalent to abort + -ion. Displaced native Old English ǣwyrp (literally “throwing out, rejection”).

7 senses

1A spontaneous abortion; a miscarriage.
2An induced abortion.
3An aborted foetus; an abortus.
4A misshapen person or thing; a monstrosity.
5Failure or abandonment of a project, promise, goal etc.
6Arrest of development of any organ, so that it remains…
7The cessation of an illness or disease at a very early stage.

› The expulsion from the womb of a foetus or…

Medicine, Sciences A spontaneous abortion; a miscarriage.

Now uncommon in general use

Swines-bread, so used, doth not onely speed / A tardy labour; but (without great heed) / If over it a Child-great Woman stride, / Instant abortion often doth betide.1605 [1578], Josuah, transl. Sylvester, “The Third Day of the First Week”, in Devine Weekes and Workes, translation of La Premiere Sepmaine by Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas, lines 693–696:
At any time after impregnation, abortion may take place: it is one of the most common complaints of pregnancy, whence it is a matter of no small consequence that every practitioner should well understand it.1809, William Nicholson, The British Encyclopaedia, volume IV:

Medicine, Sciences An induced abortion.

Mary decided to have an abortion because she was too young to raise a baby.
It is impossible for an abortion clinic to have a waiting list of more than nine months.1997, George Carlin, Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 93:

2 more examples

The story of Ms. He and her mother began in the early 1960s, shortly before the Cultural Revolution shook China. Her young parents, who worked in a pottery factory in Rongchang in present-day Chongqing municipality, conceived her while unmarried. “They were told by the factory, ‘Have an abortion or be fired’,” she said. They chose to keep her and were fired.2014 January 20, Didi Kirsten Tatlow, “‘She. Herself. Naked.': The Art of He Chengyao”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Aug 2023, Sinosphere:
Representative Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania will resign from Congress after claims that the anti-abortion Republican had urged a woman he was having an extramarital affair with to have an abortion.2017 October 5, Ben Jacobs, The Guardian:

Archaic An aborted foetus; an abortus.

‘It seems too hairy for an abortion, and too small for a mature birth.’1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford, published 2008, page 657:
The Fascist poem, one may fear, will be a horrid little abortion such as one sees in a glass jar in the museum of some county town.1929, Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own:

Figuratively A misshapen person or thing; a monstrosity.

Insomuch that I do honestly believe, there can be no place in the world, where such intolerable abortions, begotten of the sculptor’s chisel, are to be found in such profusion, as in Rome.1846, Charles Dickens, chapter 10, in Pictures from Italy:
His voice was the most pitiable abortion of a voice I had ever heard.1889, Edward Bellamy, “To Whom This May Come”, in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, New York, page 459, column 2:

2 more examples

Dickey on his own manages to turn a simple bo diddley 1-2-3-4 into an absolute abortion of a song.2000, Jules, “please dont buy beacon cd”, in alt.fan.allman-brothers (Usenet):
an absolute abortion of a book2003, David Kerekes, Headpress 24: Powered by Love, page 133:

Figuratively Failure or abandonment of a project, promise, goal etc.

The returning good sense of our country threatens abortion to their hopes, & they believe that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their schemes.1800 September 23, Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush^(http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field(DOCID+@lit(tj090069))):
The transfer or loss of the project manager before the project is completed will result in lost continuity and delay or the abortion of the project and/or the report.2013, Fakhry A. Assaad, James W. LaMoreaux, Travis Hughes, Field Methods for Geologists and Hydrogeologists, →ISBN, page 314:

1 more example

[…] the abrupt abortion of the trip after eleven days.2015, Gabriele Brandstetter, Poetics of Dance: Body, Image, and Space, →ISBN, page 73:

Biology, Natural sciences Arrest of development of any organ, so that it remains an imperfect formation or is absorbed.

The cessation of an illness or disease at a very early stage.

Synonyms: abort, abortus, aborticide, feticide, foeticide, termination, embryoctony, miscarriage, misbirth
Derived terms: 32 terms
abortifacient, abortional, abortion ban, abortion clinic, abortion doctor, abortionee, abortionism, abortionist, abortion mill, abortion pill, abortion rights, abortion-rights, abortion tour, abortion tourism, abortion tourist, abortion vaccine, anti-abortion, antiabortion, anti-abortionism, antiabortionism, anti-abortionist, antiabortionist, boybortion, miniabortion, missed abortion, post-abortion, postabortion, pre-abortion, preabortion, pro-abortion, proabortion, teleabortion
Hyponyms: 34 terms
accidental abortion, ampullar abortion, artificial abortion, back alley abortion, back-alley abortion, chemical abortion, complete abortion, contagious abortion, early abortion, elective abortion, habitual abortion, hysterotomy abortion, imminent abortion, incomplete abortion, induced abortion, inevitable abortion, infected abortion, infectious abortion, instillation abortion, late-term abortion, lunchtime abortion, medical abortion, nontherapeutic abortion, overdue abortion, partial-birth abortion, partial birth abortion, prolonged abortion, septic abortion, spontaneous abortion, surgical abortion, therapeutic abortion, threatened abortion, tubal abortion, vacuum aspiration abortion