contraceptive

Etymology

It is formed from English contra- + conceptive, with the first syllable of the second part dropped,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} an irregular formation in Hoad's and Onions's view.^[7][8] Etymonline instead takes it from the stem of contraception and the suffix -ive.^[9] The prefix is from Latin contrā (“against”),^[9] and the adjective conceptive is from Latin conceptīvus,^[9][3] from the past participle stem of concipiō (“to take in”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A device or drug for preventing conception: 1891, in I. Ellis's Essentials of Conception.^[2][9] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1890–95.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The noun came first; the adjective, of or preventing conception, is recorded in the OED from 1918, while Etymonline dates it to 1915.^[2][9] Onions notes that the word superseded the earlier anticonception, anticonceptive and contraceptic.^[8] The related noun contraception is a few years older, recorded from 1886.^[2][9]

Timeline

• 1886 – contraception, the prevention of conception.^[2][9]
• 1891 – noun, a contraceptive device or drug.^[2][9]
• 1918 – adjective, preventing conception.^[2] Etymonline dates the adjective to 1915.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A device, drug or other means used to prevent conception or pregnancy, such as a condom or a pill.^{[2][6][10][11]}

Adjective

1. Preventing conception, or relating to contraception: contraceptive advice.^{[2][6][10][11]}

Related words

• contraception
• conceive
• conception
• contra-

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Onions, C. T., ed. (1966), The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin