1650s, from Medieval Latin abrasionem (nominative abrasio) "a scraping," noun of action from past participle stem of Latin abradere "to scrape away, shave off," from ab- "off" (see ab-) + radere "to scrape" (see raze).
1805, from Latin abras-, past participle stem of abradere "to scrape away, shave off" (see abrasion) + -ive. Figurative sense of "tending to provoke anger" is first recorded 1925. Related: Abrasively; abrasiveness.