abortivus

Forms

abortīvus (feminine abortīva, neuter abortīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin aborior (“to pass away, miscarry”) + -īvus.^[2][1][3] The verb is orior (“to rise”) with ab-;^[1][4] de Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Italic *or-i- (“to rise”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₃r-i- (“to rise”).^[4] Isidore of Seville explained the word as said of what does not rise but sets and falls away.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Horace uses it in the Satires of a man named Sisyphus who had been born prematurely, as an example of a badly undersized son.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Martial calls an addled egg abortivum, and Pliny the Elder uses it of plants and remedies that cause abortion, and of something that prevents conception.^[2][8] As a noun it named an abortifacient drug.^[9]

In the Vulgate the neuter abortivum is a fetus born before its time, and Paul calls himself one born out of due time (tamquam abortivo), a passage often quoted;^[5][9] medieval writers repeated it as an expression of humility.^[10] Medieval Latin used it of still-born young and of things causing abortion,^[11] and as a noun for a miscarriage and for one born prematurely.^[7] English took over abortive in the late 14th century, “born prematurely or dead”.^[12]

Timeline

• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a man born prematurely.^[2][7]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of plants causing abortion.^[2][8]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of an addled egg.^[2][8]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses the neuter as a noun for a premature fetus.^[5][9][7]
• c. 768 – Aethicus uses it as a noun for one born prematurely.^[7]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as abortive.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Born prematurely.^[2][8]
2. Of an egg: addled.^[2]
3. Causing abortion, abortifacient.^[2][8]
4. Preventing conception, contraceptive.^[2]
5. (Medieval Latin) Still-born.^[11]

Noun

1. (abortīvum) A premature fetus, a miscarriage.^[5][9]
2. (abortīvum) An abortifacient drug.^[9]
3. (Medieval Latin, masculine) One born prematurely.^[7]

Word family

• abortīvum

Related words

• aborior
• aborīscor
• aborsus
• abortiō
• abortō
• abortum
• abortus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com