abortion
/əˈbɔɹ.ʃn̩/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.24 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The expulsion from the womb of a foetus or embryo before it is fully developed, with loss of the foetus.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The expulsion from the womb of a foetus or embryo before it is fully developed, with loss of the foetus.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Swines-bread, so used, doth not onely speed / A tardy labour; but (without great heed) / If over it a Child-great Woman stride, / Instant abortion often doth betide."
- "At any time after impregnation, abortion may take place: it is one of the most common complaints of pregnancy, whence it is a matter of no small consequence that every practitioner should well understand it."
- "Mary decided to have an abortion because she was too young to raise a baby."
- "It is impossible for an abortion clinic to have a waiting list of more than nine months."
- "The story of Ms. He and her mother began in the early 1960s, shortly before the Cultural Revolution shook China. Her young parents, who worked in a pottery factory in Rongchang in present-day Chongqing municipality, conceived her while unmarried. “They were told by the factory, ‘Have an abortion or be fired’,” she said. They chose to keep her and were fired."
- "Representative Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania will resign from Congress after claims that the anti-abortion Republican had urged a woman he was having an extramarital affair with to have an abortion."
Etymology
From Latin abortiōnem (“miscarriage, abortion”), from aborior (“to miscarry”). Equivalent to abort + -ion. Displaced native Old English ǣwyrp (literally “throwing out, rejection”).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əˈbɔɹ.ʃn̩/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
abortion ban
abortion clinic
abortion doctor
abortion mill
abortion pill
abortion rights
abortion-rights
abortion tour