Abort

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /əˈbɔːt/

Definitions

1. To stop a planned action or process before completion, especially a computer or medical procedure ; to experience the failure of a developing pregnancy or project before reaching maturity
2. To intentionally end an operation or activity early, preventing its normal conclusion ; to suffer a spontaneous end to development, such as a miscarriage or project failure
3. To discontinue something that has begun, preventing it from finishing as intended ; to have a premature ending or failure, especially referring to a fetus or an unsuccessful attempt

Etymology: The verb "abort" comes from the Latin "aborire," meaning "to miscarry," and its roots reveal a surprising reversal: the prefix "ab-" here does not mean "away" in the sense of removal, but is usually taken as pointing to a failed arising, so that the whole word describes something that began to come into being and then fell apart before it could arrive. The Latin sense of the word was specifically about pregnancy, and that medical meaning was the original one, with the idea of stopping short extending only later to any project or process halted before completion. The word reached English through Middle English, where it kept the old Latin connection to births that failed to reach term. Its participle form, "abortus," also gave English a separate noun-and-adjective pairing, so the two forms run side by side as a doublet, one picked up through the everyday Middle English route and one taken more directly from Latin.

Synonyms: terminate, cancel, end, stop, abort

Antonyms: continue, proceed, advance, carry on, succeed