abort-, aborti-

1. To give birth before the fetus, an unborn offspring, is viable or capable of life; to have a miscarriage; to fail to be completed: It was very sad that the baby was aborted because of the injury when the mother fell down the stairs.
2. To cut short because of some failure in equipment: The pilot aborted the flight because of radio failure.

Failure of the radar system will abort the flight of the spaceship until another day.

The family will be aborting their trip to the arctic because of the early onslaught of winter.

3. Etymology: originally, "to set" or "to disappear" (as the sun). Composed of ab-, "from" + oriri- "to arise"; the part of the sky, or the world, in which the sun rises; the East.

A reference to the killing of a fetus: The aborticidal operation was performed because the mother could not survive the pregnancy any more.

Tom, the veterinarian, agreed with the farmer that an aborticidal operation on the sow would be the only way to save her life.

The destruction of a fetus either by a spontaneous or induced procedure; the act of destroying a fetus in the womb: The parents were distressed because of the natural and unexpected aborticide that happened.

A device or a drug that causes the death of an unborn young before birth: The new abortifacient which the physician used to destroy the fetus was recommended by a medical specialist.

Several experimental abortifacients have been tested by certain laboratories.

1. Expulsion of a fetus from the womb before it is viable, however medical personnel will also use this term for a miscarriage, which is involuntary: Vivian had to go to the hospital because of an unexpected spontaneous abortion of her unborn baby.
2. Induced termination of pregnancy before the fetus is capable of independent survival: The doctor had to induce an abortion because the health and safety of the mother was at risk.
3. Anything that fails to develop, progress, or mature, such as a design, project, or a badly developed plan, etc.: The abortion of the plans to build the new civic center was regretted by just about everyone in the community.

The attempt to redesign the airplane was an abortion or failure.

4. An early or untimely abandonment of an endeavor : The inclement weather helped Norman to determine that the abortion of their hiking plans was the only safe thing to do.
5. Etymology: ab-, "from, away from" + oriri, "to come into being, to rise, to be born".

Referring to or pertaining to the cessation, or discontinuation, of a pregnancy or a fetal development; concerning a miscarriage: Dr. Smith was correct to use abortional terminology when discussing the mother's condition.

John, the veterinarian, ordered some new abortional medication to be used in his animal clinic.

The support or recommendation of the termination of a pregnancy: Tonya's sister, who is a doctor, supports abortionism once the client has had a medical examination and counseling.

1. Someone who believes and promotes the ending of a pregnancy: The speaker was a well-known abortionist who advocated supporting the legal termination of pregnancies.
2. An individual who makes a business of ending a pregnancy illegally: The backstreet abortionist has recently been arrested by the police.
3. People who support, or advocate ending pregnancies when a woman wants it to be done: The noisy crowd in front of the clinic included many well-known abortionists.
4. Anyone who takes the action of stopping a project, a mission, etc, before it is completed: The engineer for the city was an abortionist who advocated discontinuing the building of the expensive bridge because of the excessive costs.

The right of a woman to have a medical operation at any time during pregnancy in which a developing fetus is removed so it is not born alive: The rallying cry of the pro-choice group at the parade was for the right of women to have abortions-on-demand.

1. A reference to something being incompletely developed: Constance made an abortive effort to get her acting career back on track.
2. Pertaining to the failure to end a pregnancy by removing an embryo or fetus from the womb: The surgery which Thomas, the veterinarian, performed was an abortive misfortune and did not save the unborn calf.
3. Concerning a discontinuation in the progress of a disease: The normal course of the illness was not felt because of the abortive intervention by the medical specialists.
4. Descriptive of the failure to accomplish an objective; futile; imperfectly developed: Marlene and Vincent made an abortive attempt to complete the project.

Regarding how something is done in an untimely manner; immaturely; fruitlessly: Bessie was abortively chasing the taxi down the street after she realized that she had left a package in the back seat!

The life of the horse was abortively cut short by an untimely accident.

1. That which has failed to accomplish an intended result: The abortiveness of solving the financial crisis has resulted in a worse economic situation.
2. Something which is partially or imperfectly developed: There was an abortiveness about the jokes that were being told at the Stand-Up Comedy club.

When Vincent retired, he acknowledged that the single abortiveness of his career was the result of his being unable to prevent the foreclosures on mortgages.

A clinic or a hospital where premature stoppages of natural or pathological processes are performed: The veterinarian college established an abortorium for the students to use for their studies.

There were several abortoria in the rural area of the province.

The procedure of giving an end to the development of a fetus which weighs less than 500 gm. (17 oz.) or is less than a twenty weeks' gestational age at the time of the expulsion from the uterus, and therefore has no chance of survival: An abortus is the existence of a being that has been terminated.

Pertaining to opposition of the discontinuance of a pregnancy or to a fetal development: The antiabortion doctor refused to remove the fetus before it was able to survive, especially since he was not convinced that it was necessary for the mother's well- being.