abort

Meaning

Noun

1. An early termination of a mission, action, or procedure in relation to missiles or spacecraft; the craft making such a mission.
2. The function used to abort a process.
3. An event in which a process is aborted.
4. The product of a miscarriage; an aborted offspring; an abortion.
5. (obsolete) A miscarriage; an untimely birth; an abortion.

Verb

1. To miscarry; to bring forth (non-living) offspring prematurely.
2. To cause a premature termination of (a fetus); to end a pregnancy before term.
3. To end prematurely; to stop in the preliminary stages; to turn back.
4. To stop or fail at something in the preliminary stages.
5. To become checked in normal development, so as either to remain rudimentary or shrink away wholly; to cease organic growth before maturation; to become sterile.
6. To cause an organism to develop minimally; to cause rudimentary development to happen; to prevent maturation.
7. To abandon a mission at any point after the beginning of the mission and prior to its completion.
8. To terminate a mission involving a missile or rocket; to destroy a missile or rocket prematurely.
9. To terminate a process prior to completion.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/əˈbɔːt/

Etymology

From Middle English, from Latin abortus, perfect active participle of aborior (“miscarry”), formed from ab + orior (“come into being”). Doublet of abortus.