pregnancy
Americannoun
-
pregnancies
plural
noun
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the state or condition of being pregnant
-
the period from conception to childbirth
-
The condition of carrying developing offspring within the body.
-
The time period during which this condition exists; gestation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of pregnancy
First recorded in 1520–30; pregn(ant) 1 + -ancy
Explanation
Pregnancy is the state of being pregnant, the time a woman grows a baby in her belly. For humans, pregnancy lasts about nine months, during which time the mother might want a chocolate chip and pickle sandwich. Get her one. Before a mother bear gives birth to a cub, or a mother cat has kittens, she goes through pregnancy. In humans, pregnancy is a time to prepare for a new baby while the mother-to-be does things like take special vitamins and choose a doctor or midwife to assist with the upcoming birth. Bears and cats just go for it. Pregnancy comes from the Latin praegnans, "with child" or "before birth," from prae-, "before," and gnasci, "be born."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She agreed to terminate the pregnancy if a serious birth defect were discovered and the parents requested an abortion.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Her medical history of chronic conditions — including diabetes, hypertension, obesity and severe asthma — made her pregnancy particularly high-risk.
From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2026
They offer deinfibulation - a procedure that can be carried out during pregnancy that to separate fused tissue and enable safer births.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
The contract explicitly provided that she would terminate the pregnancy if the fetus had a serious birth defect and the intended parents requested an abortion.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
He hadn't had to tell his mother about Gerda's pregnancy because she already knew about it.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
The condition impacts up to 2% of pregnancies in the U.S.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
The triplets were conceived naturally, Passi said, which happens in only about about one out of 10,000 pregnancies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
Fertility organizations have urged clinics in recent years to limit surrogate pregnancies to one embryo, citing higher risks of carrying twins or triplets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
For all of the vicious debates over sex ed in the ’90 and 2000s, those pushing abstinence and those promoting comprehensive health education could largely agree on one thing: We wanted teen pregnancies to decrease.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
In November I was watching over two pregnancies, one of which I worried about.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
