Gravid

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈɡɹævɪd/

Definitions

1. Pregnant or carrying eggs, especially in reference to animals or describing a distended, swollen appearance
2. Characterized by the state of being pregnant or bearing offspring, particularly in relation to certain species or indicating an enlarged condition
3. Describing the condition of being with child or having developed eggs, often used in zoology or to denote an enlarged physical state

Etymology: Before it described a pregnant woman or a female animal carrying eggs, "gravid" was simply a word for heaviness. It comes from Latin "gravidus," meaning "laden" or "pregnant," which was built from "gravis," "heavy." The same Latin root gives English "grave" in its sense of weight and "gravity," the force that pulls things toward the earth, so the adjective is a close relative of words describing load and pull. The logic behind the sense is easy to follow: a pregnant body is heavy with what it carries. Latin speakers applied the image to a woman bearing a child, and the term passed into English with that meaning intact. In modern use it is most common in medicine and zoology, where it still describes a body loaded with developing young or eggs.

Synonyms: pregnant, expecting

Antonyms: infertile, barren