noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The fetus or embryo, including all the surrounding tissues protecting and nourishing it during pregnancy.
2. 2
   an animal organism in the early stages of growth and differentiation that in higher forms merge into fetal stages but in lower forms terminate in commencement of larval life wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

embryoembryofertilized egg

Etymology

From Latin cōncipiō (“to take hold of, to receive”), from Latin capiō (“to capture”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.