Praegnare

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Definitions

1. To be with child; to contain offspring developing within the womb; to carry a developing fetus
2. To conceive and nurture a fetus in the uterus during gestation; to be in a state of pregnancy; to bear an unborn young
3. The condition of harboring a developing embryo or fetus; experiencing the process of gestation; carrying offspring inside the body prior to birth

Etymology: "Praegnare" is the Late Latin verb behind English "pregnant," and it is built from the Latin "prae" meaning "before" and "gnasci," an older form of "nasci," meaning "to be born." Its literal sense was therefore something like "to be before birth" or "to be ready to be born," which says more about the idea of impending arrival than about the womb itself. The Latin adjective "praegnans" descended from this verb and carried the same notion of something about to come forth. English borrowed the word in the 1500s, and it appears in medical and general use by the late 16th century. Its modern meaning narrowed over time, but early English writers also used "pregnant" more loosely, for a fertile mind, a ready wit, or an event full of possibilities, a sense that survives in phrases like "a pregnant pause." That figurative use shows the word's root idea of imminent production persisting beyond the physical meaning.

Synonyms: pregnant, expecting, with child

Antonyms: not pregnant