English

Adjective

abortive ‎(comparative more abortive, superlative most abortive)

1. (obsolete) Produced by abortion; born prematurely. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the mid 18^th century.]^[1]

   an abortive child‎

2. Coming to naught; failing in its effect; miscarrying; fruitless; unsuccessful. [First attested in the late 16^th century.]^[1]

   an abortive attempt‎

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

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

   • (Can we date this quote?), William H. Prescott, (Please provide the title of the work):

     An abortive enterprise.

3. (biology) Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile. [First attested in the mid 18^th century.]^[1]

   an abortive organ‎

   an abortive stamen‎

   an abortive ovule‎

4. (medicine, rare, attributive) Causing abortion; abortifacient

   abortive medicines‎

   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Parr to this entry?)
5. (medicine) Cutting short; acting to halt or slow the progress (of a disease).

   abortive treatment of typhoid fever‎

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

   abortive vellum‎

Translations

Derived terms

• abortiveness

Noun

abortive ‎(plural abortives)

1. (obsolete) That which is born or brought forth prematurely; an abortion. [Attested from around (1150 to 1350) until the mid 18^th century.]^[1]
   • 1592, Shakespeare, Richard III, I-iii:

     Thou elvish-mark'd, abortive, rooting hog!

2. (obsolete) A fruitless effort or issue. [Attested from the early 17^th century until the early 18^th century.]^[1]
3. (obsolete) A medicine to which is attributed the property of causing abortion, abortifacient.

Translations

Verb

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]

References

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

1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lesley Brown (editor), The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2003 [1933], ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7), page 7
2. ↑ Elliott K. Dobbie, C. William Dunmore, Robert K. Barnhart, et al. (editors), Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2004 [1998], ISBN 0550142304), page 4

French

Adjective

abortive

1. feminine singular of abortif

Italian

Adjective

abortive f pl

1. feminine plural of abortivo

Anagrams

• breviato

Latin

Adjective

abortīve

1. vocative masculine singular of abortīvus