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| Date: | 1500-1600 |
| Language: | Latin |
| Origin: | abortare, from abortus, past participle of aboriri 'to give birth to a dead baby', from ab- 'away' + oriri 'to rise, be born' |
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a‧bort
1 [transitive] to stop an activity because it would be difficult or dangerous to continue it : 
The rescue mission had to be aborted.
The rescue mission had to be aborted.2 [transitive] to deliberately end a pregnancy when the baby is still too young to live
3 [intransitive] if a pregnant woman or animal aborts, the baby is born too early and is dead when it is born : The disease causes pregnant animals to abort.
The disease causes pregnant animals to abort.