Emily Dickinson Lexicon

A-BOR'TION, n. [L. abortio, a miscarriage; usually deduced from ab and orior.]

1. The act of miscarrying, or producing young before the natural time, or before the fetus is perfectly formed.
2. In a figurative sense, any fruit or produce that does not come to maturity, or any thing which fails in its progress, before it is matured or perfect, as a design or project.
3. The fetus brought forth before it is perfectly formed.