Etymograph

English

abortion

Abortion comes from Latin abortiōnem ‘miscarriage, abortion’, from orior ‘rise, get up’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃er-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃er-1‘to rise, to spring’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*oriōr1‘to rise, get up’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEorior1‘rise, get up’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaborior2‘to miscarry’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabortiōnem2‘miscarriage, abortion’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1605abortion2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin aborior
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English abortion
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1605, 1578, The Third Day of the First Week: “Swines-bread, so used, doth not onely speed / A…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃er-Wiktionary, Latin aborior‘to rise, to spring’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*oriōrWiktionary, Latin aborior‘to rise, get up’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoriorWiktionary, Latin aborior‘rise, get up’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaboriorWiktionary, English abortion‘to miscarry’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEabortiōnemWiktionary, English abortion‘miscarriage, abortion’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1605abortionWiktionary, English abortion. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1605, 1578, The Third Day of the First Week: “Swines-bread, so used, doth not onely speed / A…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- ‘to rise, to spring’

run, ride, earn, orient, irritate, irritable, aborigines, ornithology, erne, orogeny, 13 more

through Proto-Italic *oriōr ‘to rise, get up’

originally, originality, origination, aborigine, 5 more

through Latin orior ‘rise, get up’

original, origin, orienteering, 9 more

Today it means

noun A spontaneous abortion; a miscarriage.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “abortion”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin aborior. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- / abortion

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