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What is "abortifacient"

Crossword clues for abortifacient

abortifacient
The Collaborative International Dictionary
abortifacient

Abortive \A*bor"tive\, n.

  1. That which is born or brought forth prematurely; an abortion. [Obs.]
    --Shak.

  2. A fruitless effort or issue. [Obs.]

  3. A medicine to which is attributed the property of causing abortion; -- also called an abortifacient.
    --Dunglison.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
abortifacient

1875, noun and adjective, from Latin abortus (see abortive) + facientem "making," related to facere "do" (see factitious). An earlier word for this in the noun sense was abortive (1640s).

Wiktionary
abortifacient

a. Producing miscarriage. (First attested in the mid 19th century.)(R:SOED5: page=7) n. (context pharmacology English) A drug or an agent that induces an abortion.(R:MW3 1976: page=5) (First attested in the mid 19th century.)

WordNet
abortifacient

  1. adj. causing abortion

  2. n. a drug (or other chemical agent) that causes abortion [syn: aborticide, abortion-inducing drug]

Wikipedia
Abortifacient

An abortifacient ("that which will cause a miscarriage" from Latin: abortus "miscarriage" and faciens "making") is a substance that induces abortion. Abortifacients for animals that have mated undesirably are known as mismating shots.

Common abortifacients used in performing medical abortions include mifepristone, which is typically used in conjunction with misoprostol in a two-step approach. There are also several herbal mixtures with abortifacient claims, though there are no available data on the efficacy of these plants in humans.

Usage examples of "abortifacient".

It was the abortifacient, she was sure, that was what she was using to detect Sime fetuses.

The same women that despised Sky Eyes, that gossiped about her and futilely forbade their sons to come near her, they came for abortifacients, joint easers, the silvery drink that brought one out of a dark mood, a dozen other things.

It was used in many of our potions, from the sleeping potions and pain-killers to the abortifacients and life-drainers.

I do not dispense abortifacients except in extreme cases when the life of mother and child both are at risk.

Besides her abortifacients, Anghariad had other strange things for sale to the right customers.