Etymologically
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fetus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfeː.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfɛː.tus][1]

Forms

fētus m (genitive fētūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

The adjective is inherited from Proto-Italic *fēto-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-to- (“having given birth”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to suckle”).[2][1] The fourth-declension noun is either Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-tu- or a Latin action noun in -tus from the same base.[1][3] The same root is in fēmina, fēcundus, fēlīx and fīlius, and outside Latin in Sanskrit धयति (dháyati, “sucks”).[2][1] The spelling foetus is incorrect.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates the adjective from Ennius, whose she-wolf is fēta, having just whelped.[2][3] Plautus uses the noun.[5][6] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC and Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

Risch showed that the adjective first meant having given birth, of animals with a young brood, and only by metaphor “fertilized, fertile”, said of the earth and plants.[2] Later authors such as Columella use it for “pregnant”.[3] The noun meant the bringing forth of young, laying of eggs, then the bearing of fruit, and finally that which is born, offspring, a brood or a crop.[3]

Medieval writers in Britain still used fēta of breeding cattle and of a virgin who gave birth.[7] English took fetus as “the young in the womb or egg” in the late 14th century.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the noun of giving birth.[5][6]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius calls the she-wolf fēta.[3][6]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses fēta of a pregnant sow.[3][6]
  • late 14th century – English fetus is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The bringing forth of young, birth, (of birds) laying.[3]
  2. The bearing of fruit (by plants or the earth).[3]
  3. Offspring, young, brood; a crop.[3]

Adjective

  1. (of animals) Having recently given birth.[3]
  2. Pregnant, with young.[3]
  3. Fruitful, productive.[3]

Word family

  • fēta
  • fētifer
  • fētificō
  • fētificus
  • fētō
  • effētus
  • fētālia
  • fētōsus
  • fētūra
  • ārdifētus
  • fētūrātus

Usage notes

Döderlein says that fētus is used of pregnancy in animals, gravidus of women, and praegnāns of both.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper