English → Latin
“abortive” in Latin
cāsusa fall, downwards movement; accident, chance; an event, happening, occurrenceinānisempty, void, hollow; vain; purposeless, meaningless, worthless, useless, fruitless, empty, idleirritusinvalid, void, null and void; ineffective, useless, irrelevantincipiōto begin, to commenceconterōto grind or crush to pieces; to bruise or crumble; to wear down or away, consume
The English word abortive itself goes back to Latin ab, through abortīvus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
abortive
brought forth prematurely. ahoravua.
Unsuccessful, cassus (empty, hollow; hence profitless, of labors): inanis (empty, unsubstantial; inanes contentiones): irritus (invalidated; as good as undone, irritus labor; inceptum). (The words are found in this connection and order.) vanus et irritus; irritus et vanus. To make abortive attempts, operam perdere, or frustra consumere, or conterere; oleum et operam perdere.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for abortive?
- The usual Latin words for “abortive” are cāsus, inānis, irritus; also incipiō, conterō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.