gestation

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

gestation (plural gestations)

1. The period of time during which an infant animal or human physically develops inside the mother's body until it is born.
2. The process of development of a plan or idea.
   • 1900, Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, Avon Books, (translated by James Strachey) pg. 149:

     It was to a conversation with another friend who had for many years been familiar with all my writings during the period of their gestation, just as I had been with his.

Synonyms

• pregnancy

Translations

period of time a fetus develops inside mother's body

Finnish: raskausaika (fi)

process of development of a plan or idea

Finnish: kehittely (fi)

External links

• gestation in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• gestation in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911