gestation

English

Etymology

From Latin gestatio.

Pronunciation

• enPR: jĕstāshən, IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɛsˈteɪʃən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

gestation (countable and uncountable, plural gestations)

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

Derived terms

• gestation period

Translations

period of time a fetus develops inside mother's body — see also pregnancy

• Asturian: xestación f
• Basque: ernaldi
• Belarusian: цяжа́рнасць f (cjažárnascʹ)
• Bulgarian: бре́менност (bg) f (brémennost)
• Catalan: gestació (ca) f
• Czech: březost (cs) f, gravidita f
• Danish: svangerskab (da) n, graviditet (da) c, drægtighed (da) c (animals only)
• Dutch: zwangerschapstijd m, gestatie (nl) f, drachttijd m, draagtijd (nl) m
• Esperanto: gravedeco
• Finnish: raskausaika (fi)
• French: gestation (fr) f
• Galician: xestación (gl) f
• Georgian: ორსულობა (orsuloba), ფეხმძიმობა (pexmʒimoba), გესტაცია (gesṭacia), მაკეობა (maḳeoba) (for animals)
• German: Reifung (de) f, Heranreifen n
• Greek: κυοφορία (el) f (kyoforía)
• Haitian Creole: jestasyon
• Hungarian: gesztáció
• Ido: gravideso (io)
• Indonesian: gestasi
• Ingrian: raskahusaika
• Italian: gestazione (it) f
• Kazakh: буаздық (buazdyq)
• Macedonian: бременост f (bremenost)
• Malayalam: ഗർഭകാലം (ml) (gaṟbhakālaṁ)
• Marathi: सगर्भता (sagarbhatā)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: svangerskap n, graviditet m, drektighet (no) m or f (animals only)

  Nynorsk: drektigheit

• Occitan: gestacion (oc) f
• Polish: ciąża (pl) f
• Portuguese: gestação (pt) f
• Romanian: gestație (ro) f
• Russian: бере́менность (ru) f (berémennostʹ), вына́шивание (ru) n (vynášivanije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: трудно̀ћа f, бремѐнито̄ст f, гестација f

  Roman: trudnòća f, bremènitōst (sh) f, gestacija f

• Sicilian: gistazzioni m
• Slovak: brezivosť f, gravidita f, gestácia f
• Slovene: nosečnost (sl) f
• Spanish: gestación (es) f
• Swedish: dräktighet (sv) c (animals), graviditet (sv) c (humans)
• Ukrainian: вагі́тність (uk) f (vahítnistʹ)
• Vietnamese: thai kì
• Walloon: poirtêye (wa) f

process of development of a plan or idea

• Catalan: gestació (ca) f
• Finnish: kehittely (fi)
• Georgian: შემუშავება (šemušaveba), გააზრება (gaazreba)
• Portuguese: gestação (pt) f
• Russian: вына́шивание (ru) n (vynášivanije), созрева́ние (ru) n (sozrevánije)

Further reading

• “gestation”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “gestation”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

French

Etymology

From Latin gestātiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒɛs.ta.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

gestation f (plural gestations)

1. gestation

Derived terms

• gestation pour autrui
• gestationnel

Further reading

• “gestation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.