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fe·tus 
Audio Help [fee-tuhs] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [fee-tuhs] Pronunciation Key –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 fétus bringing forth of young, hence that which is born, offspring, young still in the womb, equiv. to fé- (v. base attested in L only in n. derivatives, as fémina woman, fécundus fecund, etc.; cf. Gk thésthai to suck, milk, OHG tāan to suck, OIr denid (he) sucks) + -tus suffix of v. action]
] | Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
fetus
To learn more about fetus visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| fe·tus
Audio Help (fē'təs) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. fe·tus·es
[Middle English, from Latin fētus, offspring; see dhē(i)- in Indo-European roots.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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 |
| fetus | |
noun | |
| an unborn or unhatched vertebrate in the later stages of development showing the main recognizable features of the mature animal |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
| fetus
Audio Help (fē'təs) Pronunciation Key
The unborn offspring of a mammal at the later stages of its development, especially a human from eight weeks after fertilization to its birth. In a fetus, all major body organs are present. fetal adjective |
| The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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.
[Chapter:] Life Sciences
| The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
Fetus
Ef*fete"\, a. [L. effetus that has brought forth, exhausted; ex + fetus that has brought forth. See Fetus.] No longer capable of producing young, as an animal, or fruit, as the earth; hence, worn out with age; exhausted of energy; incapable of efficient action; no longer productive; barren; sterile. Effete results from virile efforts. --Mrs. Browning If they find the old governments effete, worn out, . . . they may seek new ones. --Burke.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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