different between idle vs abortive

English

Etymology

From Middle English idel, ydel, from Old English ?del, from Proto-Germanic *?dalaz. Cognate with Dutch ijdel (“vain, meaningless”), German Low German iedel (“vain, idle”), German eitel (“vain, conceited”), and possibly Old Norse illr ("bad"; > English ill).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ??d(?)l, IPA^(key): /?a?d(?)l/
• Rhymes: -a?d?l
• Homophones: idol, idyll, idyl (US pronunciation)

Adjective

idle (comparative more idle, superlative most idle)

1. (obsolete) Empty, vacant.
2. Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity.
3. Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular.
4. Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.

   • “I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital, […]!”

5. Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.

6. (obsolete) Light-headed; foolish.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ford to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (of no importance): pointless
• See also Thesaurus:lazy

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

idle (third-person singular simple present idles, present participle idling, simple past and past participle idled)

1. (transitive) To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume.
2. (intransitive) To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business.

   to idle in an IRC channel

   • 1939, Joan Evans, Chateaubriand (page 32)

     He had already heard of the young man's projected journey — evidently the Comte de Combourg had written many letters while his son idled at St. Malo […]

3. (intransitive) Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over.

Derived terms

• idler

Related terms

• (sense 3) idling speed

Translations

Noun

idle (plural idles)

1. The state of idling, of being idle.
2. (gaming) An idle animation.
3. (gaming) An idle game.

   Synonyms: idle game, incremental game

References

• idle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• idle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• idle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Diel, deli, diel, eild, lied

English

Etymology

First attested in 1382, with the meaning "causing stillbirth or miscarriage". From Middle English, from Old French abortif, from Latin abort?vus (“causing abortion”), from aborior (“miscarry, disappear”), from ab (“amiss”) + orior (“appear, be born, arise”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??b??.t?v/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??b??.t?v/

Adjective

abortive (comparative more abortive, superlative most abortive)

1. (obsolete) Produced by abortion; born prematurely and therefore unnatural. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the mid 18^th century.]
   • 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act I, sc. 3:

     Thou elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog!

2. Coming to nothing; failing in its effect[First attested in the late 16^th century.].

   Synonyms: miscarrying, fruitless, unsuccessful

   • 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of Seven Gables, Chapter 7:

     He made a salutation, or, to speak nearer the truth, an ill-defined, abortive attempt at curtsy.
3. (biology) Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile. [First attested in the mid 18^th century.]

4. (pharmacology, medicine, rare, attributive) Causing abortion; abortifacient
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Parr to this entry?)
5. (medicine) Cutting short; acting to halt or slow the progress (of a disease).

6. Made from the skin of a still-born animal.

Derived terms

• abortiveness

Translations

Noun

abortive (plural abortives)

1. (obsolete) Someone or something born or brought forth prematurely; an abortion. [Attested from around (1150 to 1350) until the mid 18^th century.]
2. (obsolete) A fruitless effort. [Attested from the early 17^th century until the early 18^th century.]
3. (obsolete) A medicine to which is attributed the property of causing abortion, abortifacient.

Translations

Verb

abortive (third-person singular simple present abortives, present participle abortiving, simple past and past participle abortived)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To cause an abortion; to render without fruit. [Attested only in the 17^th century.]

References

• abortive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

French

Adjective

abortive

1. feminine singular of abortif

German

Adjective

abortive

1. inflection of abortiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

abortive

1. feminine plural of abortivo

Anagrams

• breviato

Latin

Adjective

abort?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of abort?vus

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ab???i???/, /ab???ti???/
• Rhymes: -i???
• Hyphenation: ab?or?ti?ve
• Homophone: abortivet

Adjective

abortive

1. definite singular of abortiv
2. plural of abortiv