Etymology

contraceptive

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Today it means: That acts to prevent conception as a result of sexual intercourse. Full definition →

English conceptive ← Latin contrā ← Proto-Italic *komterād
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  3. Proto-Italic*kom
  4. Proto-Italic*kom-
  5. Proto-Italic*komteros
  6. Proto-Italic*komterād
  7. Latincontrā
  8. Englishcontra-
  9. Englishconceptive
  10. English todaycontraceptive

Coined in the 20th century from contra- + conceptive; compare the related contraception.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.