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abortion

Pronunciation: /əˈbɔɹ.ʃn̩/

The English word “abortion” has 7 meanings listed here.

noun

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

Etymology

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

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.