abortus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [aˈbɔr.tʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈbɔr.tus]^[1]

Forms

abortus m (genitive abortūs); fourth declension^[1] A neuter abortum occurs in the Digest and Festus.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin aborior (“to miscarry, pass away”) + -tus, an action noun, from ab- and orior (“to rise”).^[3][1][4] De Vaan reconstructs ⟨orior⟩ as Proto-Italic *or-i- (“to rise”), Proto-Indo-European *h₃r-i- (“to rise”), cognate with Umbrian ⟨ortom est⟩ “has arisen”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Terence, and the OLD's earliest citation is Cicero.^[6][3] Köbler dates Terence 190–159 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a premature birth, miscarriage, abortion, so abortum facere “to miscarry” or “to cause a miscarriage”; in Lucretius failure to conceive; and in Pliny a dead foetus.^[3][7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means abortion, miscarriage.^[8] English abort (1570s) is from its participle stem, and German Abort is from it.^[4][6]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.^[6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a miscarriage.^[3][6]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of failure to conceive.^[3][6]
• 1570s – English abort is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A miscarriage, abortion.^[3][2]
2. A dead foetus.^[3]
3. Failure to conceive.^[3]

Related words

• aborior
• orior
• abortīvus
• English abort

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson