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Origin and history of fetal

fetal(adj.)

1811, from stem of fetus + -al (1).

also from 1811

Entries linking to fetal

fetus(n.)

late 14c., "the young while in the womb or egg" (tending to mean vaguely the embryo in the later stage of development), from Latin fetus (often, incorrectly, foetus) "the bearing or hatching of young, a bringing forth, pregnancy, childbearing, offspring," from suffixed form of PIE root *dhe(i)- "to suck."

In Latin, fetus sometimes was transferred figuratively to the newborn creature itself, or used in a sense of "offspring, brood" (as in Horace's Germania quos horrida parturit Fetus), but this was not the usual meaning. It also was used of plants, in the sense of "fruit, produce, shoot," and figuratively as "growth, production." The spelling foetus is sometimes attempted as a learned Latinism, but it is unetymological (see oe).

foetal(adj.)

see fetal; for spelling, see oe.

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cringe
1570s, "to bend or crouch, especially with servility or fear," variant of crenge, crenche "to bend" (c. 1200), from causative of Old English cringan "yield, give way, fall (in battle); become bent," from Proto-Germanic *krank- "bend, curl up" (source also of Old Norse kringr, Dut
exacerbation
"act of exacerbating; state of being exacerbated; increase of violence or virulence, aggravation," c. 1400, exacerbacioun, from Late Latin exacerbationem (nominative exacerbatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin exacerbare "exasperate, irritate, provoke," from e
score
late Old English scoru "twenty," from Old Norse skor "mark, notch, incision; a rift in rock," also, in Icelandic, "twenty," from Proto-Germanic *skur-, from PIE root *sker- (1) "to cut." The notion probably is of counting large numbers (of a passing flock of sheep, etc.) by makin
jealous
c. 1200, gelus, later jelus, "possessive and suspicious," originally in the context of sexuality or romance (in any context from late 14c.), from Old French jalos/gelos "keen, zealous; avaricious; jealous" (12c., Modern French jaloux), from Late Latin zelosus, from zelus "zeal,"
obedience
c. 1200, "the practice or virtue of submission to a higher power or authority;" late 14c., "dutiful compliance with a command or law," from Old French obedience "obedience, submission" (12c.), from Latin oboedientia "obedience," abstract noun from oboedientem (nominative oboedien
ineffable
late 14c., "beyond expression, too great for words, inexpressible," from Old French ineffable (14c.) or directly from Latin ineffabilis "unutterable," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + effabilis "speakable," from effari "utter," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex
loop
late 14c., "a fold or doubling of cloth, rope, leather, cord, etc.," of uncertain origin. OED favors a Celtic origin (compare Gaelic lub "bend," Irish lubiam), which in English was perhaps influenced by or blended with Old Norse hlaup "a leap, run" (see leap (v.)). As a feature o
graffiti
1851, "ancient wall inscriptions found in the ruins of Pompeii," from Italian graffiti, plural of graffito "a scribbling," a diminutive formation from graffio "a scratch or scribble," from graffiare "to scribble," ultimately from Greek graphein "to scratch, draw, write" (see -gra
gravity
c. 1500, "weight, dignity, seriousness, solemnity of deportment or character, importance," from Old French gravité "seriousness, thoughtfulness" (13c.) and directly from Latin gravitatem (nominative gravitas) "weight, heaviness, pressure," from gravis "heavy" (from PIE root *gwer
prevail
c. 1400, prevailen, "be successful; be efficacious," from Old French prevaleir (Modern French prévaloir) and directly from Latin praevalere "be stronger or more able, have greater power," from prae "before" (see pre-) + valere "have power, be strong" (from PIE root *wal- "to be s

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