RU-486

noun

ˈär-ˌyü-ˌfȯr-ˌā-tē-ˈsiks 

: mifepristone

Examples of RU-486 in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Much of the donation was earmarked for advocacy on behalf of mifepristone, also known as RU-486, which terminates pregnancies by blocking the hormone progesterone and is often taken with the drug misoprostol. — Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 28 June 2023

His idea came to fruition in 1980, when a French drug company created mifepristone, then called RU-486. — The Week Staff, The Week, 7 May 2023

The agency’s 2000 approval of mifepristone, also known as RU-486, was controversial at the time and came after years of public debate over the drug, which had already been approved and in use in Europe. — Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2023

Étienne-Émile Baulieu, the primary developer of RU-486, which is better known as mifepristone, was even more hopeful. — Sue Halpern, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Roussel-UCLAF, the drug's French manufacturer + 486, laboratory serial number

First Known Use

1982, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

RU-486

noun

ˌär-(ˌ)yü-ˌfō(ə)r-ˌāt-ē-ˈsiks 

: mifepristone