What does "gestation" mean?

The period of time during which an animal or human offspring physically develops inside the mother's body until it is born.

What is a synonym for "gestation"?

Common synonyms include: pregnancy, pregnancy, covering, gestation period, greatness, maternity.

Pronounced //d͡ʒɛsˈteɪʃən//.

//d͡ʒɛsˈteɪʃən// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The period of time during which an animal or human offspring physically develops inside the mother's body until it is born. countable, uncountable
2
the conception and development of an idea or plan wordnet
3
The process of development of a plan or idea. countable, uncountable
"It was to a conversation with another friend who had for many years been familiar with all my writings during the period of their gestation, just as I had been with his."
4
the state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth when a woman carries a developing fetus in her uterus wordnet
5
the period during which an embryo develops (about 266 days in humans) wordnet

"The gestation period for the African bush elephant is about 669 days, whereas that for a guinea pig is only about 70 days."

Learned borrowing from Latin gestātiō.

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