abort

Q: Is it correct to say "The system was aborted by the error."?

No — say "The system aborted due to the error.". In computing, 'abort' is often used intransitively to describe a program stopping itself, rather than being the object of the action.

Definition

v. to stop a process or plan before it is finished, usually because something has gone wrong. You use this when you need to cancel an action immediately.

v. to terminate a procedure, mission, or process prematurely, typically due to a fault or safety concern. Often used in technical, military, or computing contexts.

simple

“The pilot had to abort the takeoff due to a warning light.”

contextual

“The software will abort the installation if it detects that there is not enough disk space available.”

complex

“Ground control made the difficult decision to abort the mission after a critical failure in the secondary cooling system was identified during the final countdown.”

The verb is transitive when referring to a specific plan or process, but can be used intransitively in emergency commands.

The system was aborted by the error.

The system aborted due to the error.

In computing, 'abort' is often used intransitively to describe a program stopping itself, rather than being the object of the action.

From Middle English, from Latin abortus, perfect active participle of aborior (“miscarry”), formed from ab + orior (“to come into being”). Doublet of abortus.