fetus

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fe⋅tus

[fee-tuh

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–noun, plural -tus⋅es. Embryology.

(used chiefly of viviparous mammals) the young of an animal in the womb or egg, esp. in the later stages of development when the body structures are in the recognizable form of its kind, in humans after the end of the second month of gestation.

Also, especially British, foetus.

Compare embryo (def. 2).

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L fētus bringing forth of young, hence that which is born, offspring, young still in the womb, equiv. to fē- (v. base attested in L only in n. derivatives, as fēmina woman, fēcundus fecund, etc.; cf. Gk thēsthai to suck, milk, OHG tāan to suck, OIr denid (he) sucks) + -tus suffix of v. action

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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fe·tus (fē'təs)

n. pl. fe·tus·es

The unborn young of a viviparous vertebrate having a basic structural resemblance to the adult animal.
In humans, the unborn young from the end of the eighth week after conception to the moment of birth, as distinguished from the earlier embryo.

[Middle English, from Latin fētus, offspring; see dhē(i)- in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

fetus

The embryo of an animal that bears its young alive (rather than laying eggs). In humans, the embryo is called a fetus after all major body structures have formed; this stage is reached about sixty days after fertilization.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

fetus

1398, from L. fetus "the bearing, bringing forth, or hatching of young," from L. base *fe- "to generate, bear," also "to suck, suckle" (see fecund). In L., this was sometimes transferred figuratively to the newborn creature itself, or used in a sense of "offspring, brood" (cf. "Germania quos horrida parturit fetus," Horace), but this was not the basic meaning. Also used of plants, in the sense of "fruit, produce, shoot." The adj. fetal was formed in Eng. 1811. The spelling foetus is sometimes attempted as a learned Latinism, but it is not historic.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: fe·tus
Variant: or chiefly British foe·tus /'fEt-&s/
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural fe·tus·es or chiefly British foe·tus·es or foe·ti /'fEt-"I/
: an unborn or unhatched vertebrateespecially after attaining the basic structural plan of its kind; specifically : a developing human from usually three months after conception to birth —compare EMBRYO

Medical Dictionary

fetus fe·tus (fē'təs)
n. pl. fe·tus·es

The unborn young of a viviparous vertebrate having a basic structural resemblance to the adult animal.
In humans, the unborn young from the end of the eighth week after conception to the moment of birth.

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