abort

/əˈbɔːt/

//əˈbɔːt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"abort" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“abort” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,277. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,277
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An early termination of a mission, action, or procedure in relation to missiles or spacecraft; the craft making such a mission.

Corpus desk

Index EN-abort · abort · English

abort · rank #20,277 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,277
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH abound

Nearest frequency peer: abound (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “abort”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “abort” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

abort vs art
60% similar
abort vs alot
60% similar
abort vs Amor
40% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for abort
PropertyValue
Headwordabort
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈbɔːt/
Letters5
Frequency rank#20,277
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “abort”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).abortlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “abound” (#20,278), “zeal” (#20,275), “adversely” (#20,279). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “abort” is #20,277. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around abort (IPA /əˈbɔːt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #20,277 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for abort, with forms such as "abbort", "aborrt", and "abortt". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "art", "alot", "Amor", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English, from Latin abortus, perfect active participle of aborior (“miscarry”), formed from ab + orior (“to come into being”). Doublet of abortus. The correct English form is abort, spelled A-B-O-R-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    An early termination of a mission, action, or procedure in relation to missiles or spacecraft; the craft making such a mission.
  2. 2
    The function used to abort a process.
  3. 3
    An event in which a process is aborted.
  4. 4
    The product of a miscarriage; an aborted offspring; an abortion.
  5. 5
    A miscarriage; an untimely birth; an abortion.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how abort appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. We've had aborts on three of our last seven launches.
  2. We've had three aborts over the last two days.

Etymology

From Middle English, from Latin abortus, perfect active participle of aborior (“miscarry”), formed from ab + orior (“to come into being”). Doublet of abortus.

This word in other languages

aborto(Español)avorton(Français)Abort(Deutsch)aborto(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abbort
  • aborrt
  • abortt
  • abotr
  • abrot
  • aobrt
  • baort

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of abort - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

abbort1aborrt1abortt1abotr2abrot2aobrt2baort2
Edit distance from "abort"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "abort"?
"abort" is spelled A-B-O-R-T. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈbɔːt/.
What does "abort" mean?
As a noun, "abort" means: An early termination of a mission, action, or procedure in relation to missiles or spacecraft; the craft making such a mission.
What words are commonly confused with "abort"?
"abort" is commonly confused with "art", "alot", "Amor". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "abort"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "abort" is /əˈbɔːt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "abort"?
From Middle English, from Latin abortus, perfect active participle of aborior (“miscarry”), formed from ab + orior (“to come into being”). Doublet of abortus. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "abort", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Aidan#20,282Amish#20,284whine#20,267waldo#20,263

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

waller7 variantsbanjo7 variantsbeech7 variantssinus7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list