fetus

Definition

An unborn or unhatched vertebrate showing signs of the mature animal.

Etymology

A learned borrowing from Latin fētus (“offspring”). Doublet of fawn.

Example Sentences

• "Several feti were removed from every rats' uterus, stripped of their membranes and allowed to lie in the peritoneal cavity connected to the placenta by the umbilical cord and with the placenta still attached to the uterine wall."
• "The sequence is: molecules in reproductive systems, then gametes, zygotes, morulas, blastocysts, and then fetuses."
• "Though scientists do not know how stress affects gestation, Fukuda theorizes that the vulnerability of Y-bearing sperm cells, male embryos and/or male fetuses to stress is why “subtle significant changes in sex ratios” occur. […] The factors that filter out who “gets through” from conception to birth include chromosomal or genetic abnormalities of the fetus or the mother’s stress response to changes in her environment, Catalano said."

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