pregnant

pregnant
\ \ [16] Latin praegnāspregnant’ probably originated as a compound formed from praebefore’ and gnascī or nascībe born’ (source of English nation, native, etc). It was altered to praegnāns, bringing it in line with present participial adjectives ending in -āns, and was borrowed into English in its stem form as pregnant. From it was derived the verb impregnāre, from which English gets impregnate [16], but English impregnable is quite unrelated, despite its similarity – it comes from Latin prehendereseize’ (source also of English apprehend, comprehend, etc).
\ \ Cf.IMPREGNATE, NATION, NATIVE, NATURE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • pregnant — PREGNÁNT, Ă, pregnanţi, te, adj. Care iese în relief, care se impune prin evidenţă; vizibil, clar, evident; expresiv. – Din germ. prägnant, fr. prégnant. cf. it. p r e g n a n t e. Trimis de RACAI, 21.10.2003. Sursa: DEX 98  PREGNÁNT adj. 1. v.… …   Dicționar Român

  • Pregnant — Preg nant, a. [L. praegnans, antis; prae before + genere, gignere, to beget: cf. F. pr[ e]gnant. See {Gender}, 2d {Kin}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Being with young, as a female; having conceived; great with young; breeding; teeming; gravid; preparing to …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • prégnant — prégnant, ante [ pregnɑ̃, ɑ̃t ] adj. • v. 1570; de l a. fr. preindre « presser », lat. premere 1 ♦ Littér. Qui s impose à l esprit. (1962) Psychol. Structure prégnante. ⇒ prégnance. 2 ♦ Anglic. Qui contient de nombreuses possibilités, virtualités …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • pregnant — [preg′nənt] adj. [ME preignant < L pregnans (gen. pregnantis), heavy with young < prae , before (see PRE ) + base of OL gnasci, to be born (see GENUS)] 1. having (an) offspring developing in the uterus; that has conceived; with young or… …   English World dictionary

  • Pregnant — Preg nant, n. A pregnant woman. [R.] Dunglison. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Pregnant — Preg nant, a. [F. prenant taking. Cf. {Pregnable}.] Affording entrance; receptive; yielding; willing; open; prompt. [Obs.] Pregnant to good pity. Shak. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • pregnant — [adj1] carrying developing offspring within the body abundant, anticipating, carrying a child, enceinte, expectant, expecting*, fecund, fertile, fraught, fruitful, gestating, gravid, heavy, hopeful, in family way*, parous, parturient, preggers*,… …   New thesaurus

  • pregnant — index eloquent, productive, replete, strategic Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • prégnant — prégnant, ante (pré gnan, gnan t ) adj. 1°   Terme didactique. Qui porte en soi un germe de reproduction, en parlant d une femelle. J ai six brebis, dont trois prégnantes. 2°   Par extension, violent, pressant, comme le besoin d accoucher (emploi …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • pregnant — meaningful, significant, *expressive, eloquent, sententious Analogous words: weighty, momentous, consequential, significant, important (see corresponding nouns at IMPORTANCE) …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • pregnant — PREGNANT, ou PREIGNANT, [preign]ante. adjectif. Violent, pressant. Il n a guere d usage que dans ces phrases. Douleurs pregnantes. maux aigus, pregnants …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

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