fetus

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈfiːtəs/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈfitəs/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(fētəs)

Inflections of 'fetus' (n): npl: fetuses (US)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
fe•tus /ˈfitəs/USA pronunciation   n. [countable], pl. -tus•es. 
  1. Developmental Biologyunborn or unhatched young in the womb or egg, esp. in the later stages of development.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
fe•tus  (fētəs),USA pronunciation n., pl. -tus•es. [Embryol.]
  1. Developmental Biology(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,[esp. Brit.,] foetus. Cf. embryo (def. 2).
  • Latin fētus bringing forth of young, hence that which is born, offspring, young still in the womb, equivalent. to fē- (verb, verbal base attested in Latin only in noun, nominal derivatives, as fēmina woman, fēcundus fecund, etc; compare Greek thēsthai to suck, milk, Old High German tāan to suck, Old Irish denid (he) sucks) + -tus suffix of verb, verbal action
  • Middle English 1350–1400

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
fetus, foetus / ˈfiːtəs/ ( -tuses)
  1. the embryo of a mammal in the later stages of development, when it shows all the main recognizable features of the mature animal, esp a human embryo from the end of the second month of pregnancy until birth
    Compare embryo2
Etymology: 14th Century: from Latin: offspring, brood
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
foe•tus /ˈfitəs/USA pronunciation   n., pl. -tus•es. 
  1. Developmental Biologyfetus.
foe•tal /ˈfitəl/USA pronunciation  adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
foe•tus  (fētəs),USA pronunciation n., pl. -tus•es. 
  1. Developmental Biologyfetus.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
foetus / ˈfiːtəs/ ( -tuses)
  1. a variant spelling of fetus
'fetus' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

Forum discussions with the word(s) "fetus" in the title:


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