contraception
Americannoun
-
the deliberate prevention of conception or impregnation by any of various drugs, techniques, or devices; birth control.
Patients in this study must agree to practice contraception for the duration of their participation.
-
a drug, technique, or device used to deliberately prevent conception or impregnation.
You can also request free contraception by undergoing a simple, secure online consultation.
Hormonal contraception, like any other medication, can interact with other drugs being taken.
noun
Etymology
Origin of contraception
First recorded in 1885–90; contra- 1 ( def. ) + (con)ception
Explanation
Contraception is birth control, to put it bluntly; the general term for the use of a number of devices or acts that prevent impregnation during intercourse. The word is formed by mashing together the Latin word contra, meaning "against" and a shortened form of the old French word concepcion, meaning "conception" — in other words: "against conception." Like so many scientific terms it was first coined in the nineteenth century, when the science of birth control was beginning to be seriously considered. Contraceptives — birth control devices — that had been around in cruder forms, began to be mass-produced and eventually socially accepted.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
