Abortion refers to the expulsion from the womb of a foetus or embryo before it is fully developed, with loss of the foetus; either naturally as a spontaneous abortion (now usually called a miscarriage), or deliberately as an induced abortion. It commonly describes an aborted foetus; an abortus, a misshapen person or thing; a monstrosity, and failure or abandonment of a project, promise, goal etc, which gives the term a broader and more practical sense than a single short definition would suggest. Depending on context, it can also point to arrest of development of any organ, so that it remains an imperfect formation or is absorbed and the cessation of an illness or disease at a very early stage, so the category can cover literal uses, related ideas, and more figurative extensions of the same core meaning. Taken together, these meanings present Abortion as a flexible theme rather than a narrowly technical label, covering the central idea people usually mean when they use the word while still leaving room for closely related senses that appear in real language. Abortion therefore works well as a quotation category because it can hold direct statements about the subject, figurative uses that borrow its meaning, and broader reflections that stay anchored to the same central idea.
