# abortive

> English word · Adjective · IPA /əˈbɔɹ.tɪv/ · frequency rank #43,014

## Definitions
1. Produced by abortion; born prematurely and therefore unnatural.
2. Coming to nothing; failing in its effect. .
3. Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile.
4. Causing abortion; abortifacient.
5. Cutting short; acting to halt or slow the progress (of a disease).
6. Having a short and mild progression, without pronounced symptoms.
7. Made from the skin of a still-born animal.

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **adoptive** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/abortive-vs-adoptive)
- **abortion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/abortion-vs-abortive)

## Common misspellings (11)
`abbortive`, `aboritve`, `aborrtive`, `abortiev`, `abortivve`, `aborttive`, `abortvie`, `abotrive`, `abrotive`, `aobrtive`, `baortive`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/abortive