Abortus
/əˈbɔːr.təs/noun
A miscarried or prematurely expelled fetus; also, the condition of being aborted or failed development.
Did you know?Abortus comes from Latin aboriri, meaning “to perish” or “to disappear,” built from ab- (“away”) + oriri (“to rise, be born”), so its oldest sense is tied to vanishing before life fully appears.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₃er-
“to rise, appear, begin”
Latin
Latin
oriri
“to rise, emerge, be born”
Latin
Latin
aboriri
“to perish, vanish, go away”
Latin
Latin
abortus
“a miscarriage; something brought forth prematurely or failed”
Middle English
English
aborte
“to miscarry; to fail to develop”
Modern English
English
abortus
“a miscarried fetus or premature expulsion”