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”).
Obsolete Produced by abortion; born prematurely and therefore unnatural.
an abortive child
Thou elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog!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]:
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Coming to nothing; failing in its effect. .
an abortive attempt
[…] and with utter loss of being / Threatens him, plung'd in that abortive gulf.1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, published 1799:
3 more examples
The king in vain excused his hasty retreats and abortive enterprises1838, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella:
He made a salutation, or, to speak nearer the truth, an ill-defined, abortive attempt at curtsy.1851 April 9, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
Not surprisingly, ERS has that market covered. It now owns all five of the vehicles fitted with generators for the abortive Nightstar services through the Channel Tunnel.2025 October 29, James Steward tells Joe Campbell, “Thriving on the stock exchange”, in RAIL, number 1047, page 46:
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Biology, Natural sciences Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile.
abortive medicines1809, Bartholomew Parr, Medical Dictionary:
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., […]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:
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Medicine, Sciences 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.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:
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Medicine, SciencesOf a disease Having a short and mild progression, without pronounced symptoms.
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”).
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Obsolete Someone or something born or brought forth prematurely; an abortion.
Obsolete A medicine that causes abortion, an abortifacient.
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Obsolete 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.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:
abortive
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”).
1
Obsolete To cause an abortion; to render without fruit.