pregnant
English
editAlternative forms
editPronunciation
editEtymology 1
editFrom Middle English preignant, from Old French preignant, pregnant, also prenant (compare archaic Modern French prégnant), and their source, Latin praegnāns (“pregnant”), probably from prae- (“pre-”) + *gnāscī, an archaic form of nāscī (“to be born”). Displaced Old English bearnēacen (literally "child-enlarged").
Adjective
editpregnant (comparative more pregnant, superlative most pregnant)
- (chiefly not comparable) Carrying developing offspring within the body.
- 2017 July 13, Bonnie Rochman, “Mothers-To-Be Aren’t Told Enough About Genetic Testing”, in Time[1]:
- Once upon a time, not so long ago, women got pregnant and spent nine months in suspense before finding out if they were having a boy or a girl. But today? That waiting game is completely outdated, even quaint.
- I went to the doctor and, guess what, I’m pregnant!
- Of a couple: expecting a baby together.
- We are pregnant.
- (comparable) Meaningful, having numerous possibilities or implications; full of promise; abounding in ability, resources, etc.
- a pregnant pause
- c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
- wherein the pregnant enemy does much
- 2019 January 26, Kitty Empire [pseudonym], “The Streets review – the agony and ecstasy of a great everyman”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 April 2019:
- The many tear-jerkers deal with finality, with death and the end of love, with a stoicism pregnant with feeling.
- (poetic) Fecund, fertile, prolific (usually of soil, ground, etc.).
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- The sunne-beames bright vpon her body playd, / Being through former bathing mollifide, / And pierst into her wombe, where they embayd / With so sweet sence and secret power vnspide, / That in her pregnant flesh they shortly fructifide.
- (obsolete) Affording entrance; receptive; yielding; willing; open; prompt.
- c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv]:
- play at subtill games; faire vertues all;
To which the Grecians are most prompt and pregnant
- (obsolete) Ready-witted; clever; ingenious.
Synonyms
edit- (carrying offspring (standard)): expecting, expecting a baby, expectant, gravid (of animals only), with child, fertilized
- (carrying offspring (colloquial/slang)): eating for two, having a bun in the oven, in a family way, knocked up, preggers, up the duff, up the spout
- (carrying offspring (euphemistic)): in an interesting condition, in a family way
- (having many possibilities or implications): meaningful, significant
- See also Thesaurus:pregnant
Hyponyms
edit- (carrying developing offspring): in trouble
Derived terms
editTranslations
edit
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Noun
editpregnant (plural pregnants)
- A pregnant person.
- 1843, William Robert Wilde, Austria: Its Literary, Scientific, and Medical Institutions:
- The Entbundenen, or those already delivered, are separate from those pregnants awaiting their accouchement
Translations
editEtymology 2
editApparently from Middle French pregnant, preignant (“pressing, compelling”), present participle of prembre (“to press”), from Latin premere (“to press”).
Adjective
editpregnant (comparative more pregnant, superlative most pregnant)
- (now rare) Compelling; clear, evident. [from 14th c.]
- 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:
- Peregrine was in a little time a distinguished character, not only for his acuteness of apprehension, but also for that mischievous fertility of fancy, of which we have already given such pregnant examples.
Dutch
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Middle French pregnant, from Old French pregnant, from Latin praegnāns.
Pronunciation
editAdjective
editpregnant (comparative pregnanter, superlative pregnantst)
Declension
editDeclension of pregnant | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
uninflected | pregnant | |||
inflected | pregnante | |||
comparative | pregnanter | |||
positive | comparative | superlative | ||
predicative/adverbial | pregnant | pregnanter | het pregnantst het pregnantste | |
indefinite | m./f. sing. | pregnante | pregnantere | pregnantste |
n. sing. | pregnant | pregnanter | pregnantste | |
plural | pregnante | pregnantere | pregnantste | |
definite | pregnante | pregnantere | pregnantste | |
partitive | pregnants | pregnanters | — |
Romanian
editEtymology
editBorrowed from German prägnant and French prégnant.
Pronunciation
editAdjective
editpregnant m or n (feminine singular pregnantă, masculine plural pregnanți, feminine and neuter plural pregnante)
Declension
editsingular | plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
nominative/ accusative |
indefinite | pregnant | pregnantă | pregnanți | pregnante | ||
definite | pregnantul | pregnanta | pregnanții | pregnantele | |||
genitive/ dative |
indefinite | pregnant | pregnante | pregnanți | pregnante | ||
definite | pregnantului | pregnantei | pregnanților | pregnantilor |
References
edit- pregnant in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)
Swedish
editAdjective
editpregnant (comparative pregnantare, superlative pregnantast)
- pregnant (clear and pithy, of an expression, language, or the like)
- striking (distinctive, pronounced)
Usage notes
editPregnant as in carrying a baby is gravid (of a human) or dräktig (of an animal).
Declension
editInflection of pregnant | |||
---|---|---|---|
Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
Common singular | pregnant | pregnantare | pregnantast |
Neuter singular | pregnant | pregnantare | pregnantast |
Plural | pregnanta | pregnantare | pregnantast |
Masculine plural3 | pregnante | pregnantare | pregnantast |
Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
Masculine singular1 | pregnante | pregnantare | pregnantaste |
All | pregnanta | pregnantare | pregnantaste |
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic |
References
edit- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛɡnənt
- Rhymes:English/ɛɡnənt/2 syllables
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- English poetic terms
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms with rare senses
- en:Pregnancy
- Dutch terms borrowed from Middle French
- Dutch terms derived from Middle French
- Dutch terms derived from Old French
- Dutch terms derived from Latin
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Dutch/ɑnt
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch adjectives
- Dutch terms with obsolete senses
- Romanian terms borrowed from German
- Romanian terms derived from German
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Romanian/ant
- Rhymes:Romanian/ant/2 syllables
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian adjectives
- Romanian literary terms
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish adjectives