pregnant

¹

[preg-nuhnt]

adjective

1. having a child or other offspring developing in the body; with child or young, as a woman or female mammal.

2. fraught, filled, or abounding (usually followed bywith ).

   a silence pregnant with suspense.

3. teeming or fertile; rich (often followed byin ).

   a mind pregnant in ideas.

4. full of meaning; highly significant.

   a pregnant utterance.

5. of great importance or potential; momentous.

   a pregnant moment in the history of the world.

pregnant

²

[preg-nuhnt]

adjective

Archaic.

1. convincing; cogent.

   a pregnant argument.

pregnant

/ ˈprɛɡnənt /

adjective

1. carrying a fetus or fetuses within the womb

2. full of meaning or significance

3. inventive or imaginative

4. prolific or fruitful

Other Word Forms

• pregnantly adverb
• pregnantness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of pregnant¹

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin praegnant- (stem of praegnāns ), variant of praegnās, equivalent to prae- pre- + *gnāt- (akin to ( g ) nātus born, gignere to bring into being) + -s nominative singular ending

Origin of pregnant²

1350–1400; Middle English preignant < Old French, present participle of preindre, earlier priembre to press ¹ < Latin premere. print

Word History and Origins

Origin of pregnant¹

C16: from Latin praegnāns with child, from prae before + ( g ) nascī to be born

Example Sentences

Christopher Marlowe truthers aside, William Shakespeare was an actual person who, historical records concur, married a pregnant woman eight years his senior and had three kids: Susanna, the eldest, and twins Judith and Hamnet.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"For pregnant women, those with young children, or those who are themselves the victims of domestic abuse, alternative forms of punishment will often be far more appropriate."

Read more on BBC

When she got pregnant in 2021, her heart was already weakened by Graves’ disease and she was still recovering from a rare neurological illness that had left her partially paralyzed.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In Michigan, Nelson is now pregnant with twins, using the embryos she fought for years to keep.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Keira's assessment in 2024, carried out when she was pregnant, concluded that she did not have "sufficient parental competencies to care for the newborn independently".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• rich