abortion

Definition of Abortion

(noun) The intentional or unintentional termination of a fetus.

Examples of Abortion

• A married couple were using contraception for family planning, but it failed, so they decided to have an abortion.
• After a woman is raped and impregnated, she goes to a clinic or hospital to have the pregnancy terminated.

Abortion Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: a·bor·tion

Audio Pronunciation

Phonetic Spelling

• American English – /uh-bOR-shuhn/
• British English – /uh-bAWsh-uhn/

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /əˈbɔrʃ(ə)n/
• British English – /əˈbɔːʃn/

Usage Notes

• Plural: abortions

Additional Information

• Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Sex and Gender Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “abortion” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
• Boltanski, Luc. 2013. The Foetal Condition: A Sociology of Engendering and Abortion. Cambridge: Polity.
• Ekland-Olson, Sheldon. 2012. Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides?: Abortion, Neonatal Care, Assisted Dying, and Capital Punishment. London: Routledge.

Related Terms

• contraception
• discrimination
• family planning
• feminism
• gender
• sex
• social movement

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Works Consulted

Macionis, John. 2012. Sociology. 14th ed. Boston: Pearson.

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Taylor & Francis. (N.d.) Routledge Handbooks Online. (https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/).

Wiley. (N.d.) Wiley Online Library. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/).

Cite the Definition of Abortion

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2016. “abortion.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved December 2, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/abortion/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

abortion. (2016). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/abortion/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2016. “abortion.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed December 2, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/abortion/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“abortion.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2016. Web. 2 Dec. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/abortion/>.