Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Fetus |
FetusNoun1. An unborn or unhatched vertebrate in the later stages of development showing the main recognizable features of the mature animal. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "fetus" was first used: sometime in the late 14th century. (references) |
Etymology: Fetus \Fe"tus\, noun; plural Fetuses. [Latin expression fetus, foetus, bringing forth, brood, offspring, young ones, compare to fetus fruitful, fructified, that is or was filled with young; akin to English fawn deer, fecundity, felicity, feminine, female, and probably to do, or according to others, to be.]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Health | The developing offspring from 7 to 8 weeks after conception until birth. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The circulatory system of a human fetus works differently from that of born humans, mainly because the lungs are not in use: the fetus obtains oxygen (and nutrients) from the mother through the placenta and the umbilical cord.
Blood from the placenta is carried by the umbilical vein. About half of this enters the ductus venosum and is carried to the inferior vena cava, while the other half enters the liver proper. The blood then moves to the right atrium of the heart. In the fetus, there is an opening between the right and left atrium (the foramen ovale), and most of the blood flows from the right into the left atrium, then into the left ventricle from where it is pumped through the aorta into the body. Some of the blood moves from the aorta through the internal iliac arteries to the placental arteries, and re-enters the placenta, where carbon dioxide and other waste products from the fetus are taken up and enter the mother's circulation.
Some of the blood from the right atrium does not enter the left atrium, but enters the right ventricle and is pumped into the pulmonary artery. In the fetus, there is a special connection between the pulmonary artery and the aorta, called the ductus arteriosus, which directs most of this blood away from the lungs (which aren't being used anyway).
With the first breath after birth, the system changes suddenly. The pulmonary resistance is dramatically reduced. More blood moves from the right atrium to the right ventricle and into the pulmonary arteries, and less flows through the foramen ovale to the left atrium. The blood from the lungs travels through the pulmonary veins to the left atrium, increasing the pressure there. The decreased right atrial pressure and the increased left atrial pressure pushes the septum primum against the septum secundum, closing the foramen ovale, which now becomes the fosse ovalis. This completes the separation of the circulatory system into two halves, the left and the right.
The ductus arteriosus normally closes off within one or two days of birth.
Infants with certain congenital anomalies of the heart can survive only as long as the ductus remains open: in such cases the closure of the ductus can be delayed by the administration of prostaglandins to permit sufficient time for the surgical correction of the anomalies. Conversely, in cases of patent ductus arteriosus, where the ductus does not properly close, drugs that inhibit prostaglandin synthesis can be used to encourage its closure, so that surgery can be avoided.
Remnants of the fetal circulation can be found in adults:
The word fetus comes directly from the Latin fetus meaning "offspring". The pseudo-Greek foetus is thus etymologically incorrect. In general, the medical community only permits the spelling fetus, but the spelling foetus persists in the wider community, most notably in Britain, and is accepted in some dictionaries.
See also: Child, SuperfetationDevelopment
Circulatory system
Etymology and spelling variations
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Fetus."
Synonym: FetusSynonym: foetus (n). (additional references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Look at him, Ma. Curled up like a fetus in the womb. (All in the Family; writing credit: Johnny Speight; Norman Lear) Nurse, for someone with a dead fetus on their head, you're not being very open-minded. (South Park; writing credit: Rocco Siffredi) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Campylobacter fetus. Leifson flagella stain (digitally colorized).Credit: CDC. |  | Blood agar plate culture of Campylobacter fetus s. intestinalis.Credit: CDC. |
 | Ultrasound image of fetus at four months.Credit: CDC. |  | Close up of Campylobacter Fetus.Credit: USDA. |
 | [Extraction of the fetus from the womb].Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | [Various positions of fetus in utero.].Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | [Fully formed fetus with umbilical cord and placenta attached].Credit: National Library of Medicine. | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | She tried to arch her whole body as a rigid container to preserve her fetus from shock. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Labor represents a stress to the fetus. (references) | |
It can also detect cysts in the kidneys of a fetus. (references) | ||
Unlike x-rays, there is no radiation exposure to the fetus. (references) | ||
Business | These statistics also probably reflect, however, the abuse of sonography and the termination of pregnancies based on the sex of the fetus. (references) | |
Human Rights | China | These skewed statistics reflect both the underreporting of female births so that parents can keep trying to conceive a boy, and the abuse of sonograms leading to the termination of pregnancies based on the sex of the fetus. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Fetus" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Fetus" is used about 127 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 127 | 28,395 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "fetus": aborted fetus ♦ Campylobacter fetus ♦ development of the fetus ♦ vibrio fetus. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
fetus | 574 | 17 fetus week | 23 |
fetus picture | 433 | fetus heartbeat | 22 |
fetus development | 326 | fetus heart rate | 22 |
dying fetus | 191 | fetus size | 22 |
fetus photo | 80 | 14 week fetus | 20 |
fetus growth | 63 | fetus ultrasound | 20 |
fetus stage | 50 | 11 fetus week | 20 |
fetus development picture | 44 | 9 fetus week | 20 |
electric fetus | 39 | 20 week fetus | 19 |
human fetus | 39 | 30 fetus week | 19 |
human fetus development | 37 | developing fetus picture | 19 |
fetus harlequin | 35 | fetus picture ultrasound | 18 |
by development fetus week week | 32 | 18 fetus week | 18 |
12 fetus week | 27 | human fetus picture | 18 |
fetus right | 26 | 13 fetus week | 18 |
16 fetus week | 25 | 24 fetus week | 18 |
dying fetus lyrics | 25 | fetus pic | 17 |
developing fetus | 24 | aborted fetus | 17 |
10 fetus week | 23 | 8 fetus week | 17 |
15 fetus week | 23 | fetus image | 17 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "fetus"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | fetus (foetus), embrion (egg, embryo, foetus, germ, seed leaf). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | جنين (embryo, fetal, foetal, foetus). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | зародиш (embryo, foetus, germ, nucleus, seed), ембрион (foetus, germ). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 胎儿 (fetal, Fetuses, foetal, foetus), 胎 (litter, the placenta, womb), 胚 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | plod (foetus, fruit). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | foster (embryo, foetus), foetus, føtus (foetus). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | foetus (embryo, foetus), vrucht (embryo, foetus, fruit). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | sikiö (brood, child conceived but not born, embryo, future child). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | foetus, fétus, f"tus. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | fetus (foetus). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | έμβρυο (embryo, foetus). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | שליל (embryo), עובר (embryo, foetus, germ). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | magzat (conception, embryo, foetus). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | feto (foetus). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 태아 (fetal, Fetuses, foetal, foetus). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | etusfay feto (bracken, brake, embryo, fern, fernery, foetus). (various references) зародыш (egg, embryo, foetus, germ, nucleus). (various references) fetus (foetus). (various references) feto (embryo, foetus). (various references) foster (creation, embryonal, embryonic, foetus, offspring). (various references) ทารกในครร ์ (foetus). (various references) dölüt (foetus, fruit of the body), cenin (embryo, foetal, foetus, fruit of the body). (various references) зародок (corcle, dawn, egg, embryo, germ, nucleus, primordium), плід (foetus, fruit, offspring). (various references) thai (foetus, germ), b o thai (foetus). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | concepta, concepti, concepto, conceptum, fetus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Genesis Chapter 31, Verse 8 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Ean outwV eiph ta poikila estai sou misqoV kai texetai panta ta probata poikila ean de eiph ta leuka estai sou misqoV kai texetai panta ta probata leuka |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Si quando dixit variae erunt mercedes tuae pariebant omnes oves varios fetus quando vero e contrario ait alba quaeque accipies pro mercede omnes greges alba pepererunt |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | If otherwhile he seide, The dyuers colourid shulen be thi medis, alle the sheep beren conseyuyng of dyuers colours; whanne forsothe ayenward he seith, Alle the whyet thow shalt taak for thi mede, alle the flockis beren whyet; |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | When he sayde the spotted shalbe thy wages tha all the shepe barespotted. Yf he sayde the straked shalbe thi rewarde tha bare all the shepe straked: |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ring-streaked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ring-streaked. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bore speckled: and if he said thus, The ring-streaked shall be thy hire; then all the cattle bore ring-streaked. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | If he said, All those in the flock which have marks are to be yours, then all the flock gave birth to marked young; and if he said, All the banded ones are to be yours, then all the flock had banded young. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Genesis Chapter 31, Verse 8 |
| Cebuano | Kong siya nag-ingon niini: Ang mga kabang mao ang imong suhol, unya ang tanang mga carnero nanag-anak ug mga binugkan; ug kong siya miingon niini: Ang mga kinudlisan mao ang imong suhol, unya ang tanan nga mga panon sa carnero nanag-anak ug mga kinudlisan. |
| Croatian | Ako bi on rekao: 'Svaka šarena neka bude tebi za naplatu', onda bi cijelo stado mladilo šarene; ako bi opet rekao: 'Prugasti neka budu tebi za plaæu', onda bi cijelo stado mladilo prugaste. |
| Danish | sagde han, at de spættede Dyr skulde være min Løn, så fødte hele Hjorden spættet Afkom, og sagde han, at de stribede skulde være min Løn, så fødte hele Hjorden stribet Afkom. |
| Dutch | Wanneer hij aldus zeide: De gespikkelde zullen uw loon zijn, zo lammerden al de kudden gespikkelde; en wanneer hij alzo zeide: De gesprenkelde zullen uw loon zijn, zo lammerden al de kudden gesprenkelde. |
| Finnish | Kun hän sanoi: `Pilkulliset olkoot sinun palkkasi`, niin koko lauma kantoi pilkullisia; ja kun hän sanoi: `Juovikkaat olkoot sinun palkkasi`, niin koko lauma kantoi juovikkaita. |
| French | Quand il disait: Les tachetés seront ton salaire, toutes les brebis faisaient des petits tachetés. Et quand il disait: Les rayés seront ton salaire, toutes les brebis faisaient des petits rayés. |
| German | Wenn er sprach: Die Bunten sollen dein Lohn sein, so trug die ganze Herde Bunte. Wenn er aber sprach: Die Sprenkligen sollen dein Lohn sein, so trug die ganze Herde Sprenklinge. |
| Hungarian | Mikor azt mondotta: A pettyegetettek legyenek a te béred, a juhok mind pettyegetetteket ellenek vala. Ha azt mondotta: A csíkos lábúak legyenek a te béred, a juhok mind csíkos lábúakat ellenek vala. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Sewaktu ayahmu berkata, 'Kambing yang berbintik-bintik akan menjadi upahmu,' maka segala kawanan melahirkan anak yang berbintik-bintik. Sewaktu ia berkata, 'Kambing yang belang akan menjadi upahmu,' maka segala kawanan itu melahirkan anak yang belang. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Apabila katanya: Segala binatang yang berbelang itu akan jadi upahmu, maka segala kawan binatang itupun beranaklah yang berbelang-belang, dan apabila katanya: Segala yang bercorak itu akan jadi upahmu, maka beranaklah segala kawan binatang itu bercorak-corak. |
| Italian | Se egli diceva: Le bestie punteggiate saranno il tuo salario, tutto il gregge figliava bestie punteggiate; se diceva: Le bestie striate saranno il tuo salario, allora tutto il gregge figliava bestie striate. |
| Maori | Mehemea i korero penei ia, Hei nga mea whai tongitongi te utu mou; na, he mea tongitongi katoa nga whanau o nga kahui: a, mehemea ia i ki penei, Hei nga mea whakahekeheke he utu mou, na, he whakahekeheke katoa nga whanau o nga kahui. |
| Norwegian | Når han sa: Det flekkete skal være din lønn, da fikk alt småfeet flekkete unger, og når han sa: Det stripete skal være din lønn, da fikk alt småfeet stripete unger. |
| Portuguese | Quando ele dizia assim: Os salpicados serão o teu salário; então todo o rebanho dava salpicados. E quando ele dizia assim: Os listrados serão o teu salário, então todo o rebanho dava listrados. |
| Rumanian | Ci cknd zicea el: ,,Mieii pestriyi sq fie simbria ta,`` toate oile fqceau miei pestriyi. Wi cknd zicea: ,,Mieii bqlyayi sq fie simbria ta,`` toate oile fqceau miei bqlyayi. |
| Spanish | Si él decía: "Los pintados serán tu salario", entonces todas las ovejas parían pintados. Y si decía: "Los listados serán tu salario", entonces todas las ovejas parían listados. |
| Swedish | När han sade: 'De spräckliga skola vara din lön', då fick hela hjorden spräcklig avföda; och när han sade: 'De strimmiga skola vara din lön', då fick hela jorden strimmig avföda. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "fetus": fetuses. (additional references) | |
| |
"Fetus" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Eftss, efus, etus, fatue, fatum, fatuos, fatus, fatuus, Fayum, Feitas, femus, feotus, Ferus, festos, Festum, fetas, Fetis, Fetisov, fetisso, fetos, fets, Fettis, fetu, fetum, fetuse, fetuw, feus, fevum, fidus, fitou, fitu, Futas, vetus. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "fetus" (pronounced fē"tus) |
| 4 | -ē" t u s | margaritas, treatise. |
| 3 | -t u s | apparatus, apprentice, armistice, arthritis, asbestos, berettas, bronchitis, cactus, calamitous, circuitous, countess, detritus, duplicitous, emeritus, encephalitis, eucalyptus, felicitous, fortuitous, gastritis, glottis, gratis, gratuitous, gravitas, hepatitis, hiatus, hostess, impetus, injustice, justice, laryngitis, lattice, lettuce, Lotus, malpractice, mastoiditis, meningitis, momentous, notice, osteoarthritis, portentous, poultice, precipitous, priestess, prophetess, prospectus, riotous, robustas, serendipitous, situs, solicitous, status, Stratus, tortoise, ubiquitous. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-f-s-t-u" | |
-1 letter: efts, fets, feus, fuse, suet. | |
-2 letters: efs, eft, fet, feu, set, sue, use, uts. | |
-3 letters: ef, es, et, us, ut. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-f-s-t-u" | |
+1 letter: flutes, foetus, fumets, funest, futzes. | |
+2 letters: buffets, faucets, fetuses, feudist, fluster, fluters, foulest, fullest, fumiest, funnest, fustier, futures, jestful, refutes, restful, restuff, stuffed, stuffer, stupefy, sulfate, sulfite, surfeit, truffes, tuffets, tufters, zestful. | |
+3 letters: bluffest, buffiest, chestful, chuffest, confutes, defaults, dyestuff, factures, fadeouts, fatigues, feastful, features, feudists, fistulae, fixtures, flatuses, flouters, flukiest, flushest, flusters, flutiest, flutters, foetuses, foreguts, fortunes, fouettes, fremitus, fructose, fruiters, frustule, fubsiest, fuggiest, fumettes, funkiest, funniest, furcates, furriest, furthers, furthest, furziest, fussiest, fustiest, fuzziest, gruffest, gulfiest, hasteful, huffiest, lutefisk, outfaces, outfeast, outfeels, outfires, outflies, outfoxes, puffiest, refutals, refuters, restuffs, slugfest, spiteful, stageful, stuffers, stuffier, sufflate, sulfated, sulfates, sulfites, sulfuret, surfeits, surfiest, tartufes, tasteful, truffles, tuftiest, tumefies, turfiest, turfless, unfasten, unsafety, unsifted, waftures, wasteful. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)46 65 74 75 73 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)..-. . - ..- ... |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000110 01100101 01110100 01110101 01110011 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)F e t u s |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0046 0065 0074 0075 0073 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)4071868785 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Bible Trace 16. Derivations | 17. Rhymes 18. Anagrams 19. Orthography 20. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
