Foetus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A developing young in a mammal's uterus during its significant growth phase
2. An early stage of life inside a pregnant female, characterized by complex development of bodily structures
3. The unborn young in the womb during a stage of prenatal development marked by formation of major body parts

Etymology: The Latin "fētus" meant "offspring" or "brood," and it came from the verb "fēre," to bear or give birth. English took the word through learned channels, so the spelling "foetus" preserved the Latin diphthong "oe," while "fetus," with a plain "e," is the simpler modern form that American usage favours. The most striking twist is that "fawn," the young deer, is a doublet of this word. Both descend from the same Latin root, but "fawn" arrived through Old French, where it lost its Latin sense of "offspring" in favour of a specific animal, while "foetus" was borrowed directly by scholars and kept the general meaning of young being carried or born.

Synonyms: embryo, unborn