pregnant

See also: prégnant

English

Alternative forms

prægnant (obsolete)
pregnaunt (obsolete)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɛɡnənt/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -ɛɡnənt
Hyphenation: preg‧nant

Etymology 1

From Middle English preignant, from Old French preignant, pregnant, also prenant (compare archaic Modern French prégnant), and their source, Latin praegnāns (“pregnant”), probably from prae- (“pre-”) + *gnāscī, an archaic form of nāscī (“to be born”). Displaced Old English bearnēacen (literally "child-enlarged").

Adjective

pregnant (comparative more pregnant, superlative most pregnant)

(chiefly not comparable) Carrying developing offspring within the body.
- 2017 July 13, Bonnie Rochman, “Mothers-To-Be Aren’t Told Enough About Genetic Testing”, in Time‎^[1]:
  Once upon a time, not so long ago, women got pregnant and spent nine months in suspense before finding out if they were having a boy or a girl. But today? That waiting game is completely outdated, even quaint.
I went to the doctor and, guess what, I’m pregnant!

I became pregnant in July 2014.
1. Of a couple: expecting a baby together.
  We are pregnant.
(comparable) Meaningful, having numerous possibilities or implications; full of promise; abounding in ability, resources, etc.
a pregnant pause
- c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
  wherein the pregnant enemy does much
- 2019 January 26, Kitty Empire [pseudonym], “The Streets review – the agony and ecstasy of a great everyman”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 April 2019:
  The many tear-jerkers deal with finality, with death and the end of love, with a stoicism pregnant with feeling.
(poetic) Fecund, fertile, prolific (usually of soil, ground, etc.).
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
  The sunne-beames bright vpon her body playd, / Being through former bathing mollifide, / And pierst into her wombe, where they embayd / With so sweet sence and secret power vnspide, / That in her pregnant flesh they shortly fructifide.
(obsolete) Affording entrance; receptive; yielding; willing; open; prompt.
- c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv]:
  play at subtill games; faire vertues all;
  To which the Grecians are most prompt and pregnant
(obsolete) Ready-witted; clever; ingenious.

Synonyms

(carrying offspring (standard)): expecting, expecting a baby, expectant, gravid (of animals only), with child, fertilized
(carrying offspring (colloquial/slang)): eating for two, having a bun in the oven, in a family way, knocked up, preggers, up the duff, up the spout
(carrying offspring (euphemistic)): in an interesting condition, in a family way
(having many possibilities or implications): meaningful, significant
See also Thesaurus:pregnant

Hyponyms

(carrying developing offspring): in trouble

Derived terms

Translations

carrying developing offspring within the body

Afrikaans: swanger
Aghwan: 𐕇𐔰𐔾𐔰𐔺 (x̣alay)
Albanian: shtatzënë (sq)
Arabic: حَامِل (ar) f (ḥāmil), حَوامِلُ f pl (ḥawāmilu), حُبْلَى f (ḥublā)
Armenian: հղի (hy) (hġi)
Old Armenian: յղի (yłi), յղացեալ (yłacʻeal), սաղմնառեալ (sałmnaṙeal)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܒܛܝܼܢܵܐ m (bṭīnā), ܒܛܝܼܢܬܵܐ f (bṭīntā), ܝܲܩܘܼܪܬܵܐ f (yaqurtā)
Asturian: preñada
Avar: къинай (qxʼinaj)
Azerbaijani: boylu, hamilə (az)
Bashkir: ауырлы (awırlı), йөклө (yöklö), ауыр аяҡлы (awır ayaqlı), ауырға уҙған (awırğa uźğan), буйға уҙған (buyğa uźğan)
Belarusian: цяжа́рны (cjažárny), чарава́ты (čaraváty), бярэ́менны (bjarémjenny)
Bengali: গর্ভবতী (bn) (gorbhoboti)
Bikol Central: bados (bcl)
Bulgarian: бре́менен (brémenen), тру́ден (bg) m (trúden) (dated)
Burmese: ကိုယ်ဝန်ရှိ (my) (kuiywanhri.), ဗိုက်ကြီး (my) (buikkri:) (vulgar)
Catalan: embarassat (ca), encinta f, prenyat (ca), gràvid
Cebuano: buros
Chinese:
Cantonese: 懷孕 / 怀孕 (waai⁴ jan⁶), 大肚 (daai⁶ tou⁵) (colloquial), 懷胎 / 怀胎 (waai⁴ toi¹), 有喜 (jau⁵ hei²) (euphemism and colloquial), 有咗 (jau⁵ zo²) (euphemism and colloquial), 有身己 (jau⁵ san¹ gei²)

Hokkien: 懷胎 / 怀胎 (zh-min-nan) (hoâi-thai), 有身 (zh-min-nan) (ū-sin), 病囝 (pēⁿ-kiáⁿ, pīⁿ-kiáⁿ), 大腹肚 (zh-min-nan) (tōa-pak-tó͘, tōa-bak-tó͘, toā-bat-tó͘), 有囡仔 (ū-gín-á), 有矣 (ū--ah), 帶膭 / 带𱼏 (tòa-kūi), 大肚胿 (tōa-tō͘-kui), 懷孕 / 怀孕 (zh-min-nan) (hôai-īn, hôai-ūn), 有胎 (ū-the), 有身孕 (ū-sin-īn)

Mandarin: 懷孕 / 怀孕 (zh) (huáiyùn), 有喜 (zh) (yǒuxǐ) (euphemism and colloquial), 有了 (zh) (yǒule) (euphemism and colloquial)
Crimean Tatar: ağırayaqlı, yüklü, hamile
Czech: těhotný (cs), březí (cs) (of animals)
Dalmatian: prin
Danish: gravid (da), svanger (da), højgravid (heavily pregnant), drægtig (da) (of animals), med barn, ventende, frugtsommelig (da)
Dutch: zwanger (nl), in verwachting, in blijde verwachting, in gezegende omstandigheden (of humans), drachtig (nl) (of animals)
Esperanto: graveda
Estonian: rase (et), tiine (of animals)
Faroese: við barn, upp á vegin, tvílívað f
Finnish: raskaana oleva
French: enceinte (fr) f (woman), pleine (fr) f (animal), gravide (fr) f (zoology), en gestation (fr)
Friulian: gravide, incinte
Galician: preñe, grávido, encinta f, preñado
Georgian: ფეხმძიმე (pexmʒime), ორსული (orsuli), მაკე (maḳe) (for animals)
German: schwanger (de) (of humans), trächtig (de) (of animals)
Greek: έγκυος (el) (égkyos)
Ancient: ἔγκυος (énkuos)
Greenlandic: naartusoq, ilumittoq
Guaraní: tyeguasu
Gujarati: સગર્ભા (sagarbhā)
Haitian Creole: ansent
Hawaiian: hāpai
Hebrew: מעובר \ מְעֻבָּר (m'ubár), בהיריון \ בְּהֵרָיוֹן (b'herayón), הָרָה (he) (haré)
Hindi: गर्भवती (hi) (garbhavtī), अर्थगर्भित (arthagarbhit), भावपूर्ण (bhāvpūrṇ), परिग्राही (parigrāhī), अर्थपूर्ण (arthapūrṇ), गर्भिणी (hi) (garbhiṇī), परिपूर्ण (hi) (paripūrṇ)
Hungarian: terhes (hu), várandós (hu) (euphemism), állapotos (hu)
Icelandic: óléttur, ófrískur, þungaður, barnshafandi (is), vanfær
Ido: gravida (io)
Ilocano: masikog
Indonesian: hamil (id)
Ingrian: paksu, raskas, tiine (of animals)
Irish: torrach, ag iompar clainne
Italian: incinta (it) f, gravida (it) f, pregna (it) f
Japanese: 妊娠している (ja) (にんしんしている, ninshin shite iru) (verb), (euphemism and colloquial) おめでた (omedeta)
Kazakh: жүкті (jüktı), екіқабат (ekıqabat)
Khalaj: âbistən
Khmer: ទ្រង់គភ៌ (trŭəng kɔə), ពពោះ (pɔɔ pŭəh), មានគភ៌ (miən kɔə), មានផ្ទៃ (miən phtɨy), មានផ្ទៃពោះ (miən phtɨy pŭəh), មានពោះពុង (miən pŭəh pung), កំផើម (kɑmphaəm) (vulgar), ទម្ងន់ (km) (tumngŭən), ស្ពាយបាត្រ (spiəy baat) (colloquial)
Korean: 임신하다 (ko) (imsinhada)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ئاوس (awis), دووگیان (dûgiyan), زگ (ckb) (zig), باردار (ckb) (bardar)

Northern Kurdish: bihemle (ku), ducan (ku), dugiyan (ku), girane (ku), (for animals) avis (ku)
Kyrgyz: жүктүү (ky) (jüktüü), бооз (ky) (booz), боюнда бар (boyunda bar)
Ladin: aspité
Ladino: parida
Lao: ພາມານ (phā mān), ມີຄັນ (mī khan), ຖືພາ (thư̄ phā), ມານ (mān), ມີທ້ອງ (mī thǭng), ມີລູກ (mī lūk), ຄັບພະ (khap pha), ຊົງຄັບ (song khap), ຕັ້ງທ້ອງ (tang thǭng), ຖືພາຄາທ້ອງ (thư̄ phā khā thǭng), ຖືພາມານ (thư̄ phā mān)
Latin: gravidus, praegnāns, praegnās
Latvian: grūts, grūsns
Lithuanian: nėščia f
Lü: please add this translation if you can
Macedonian: бремен (bremen), труден (truden)
Malay: (of animals) bunting, (of humans) hamil (ms), mengandung (ms), (euphemism,of humans) berbadan dua (ms)
Malayalam: ഗർഭിണി (gaṟbhiṇi)
Maléku Jaíka: fiúrusuf
Maltese: tqila f, tqal pl, ħobla f
Manchu: ᡩᠠᠪᡴᠸᡵᡳ (dabkwri), ᠵᡠᡵᠰᡠ (jursu), ᠰᡠᠴᡳᠯᡝᠮᠪᡳ (sucilembi)
Maori: hapū, āhua (mi)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: жирэмсэн (mn) (žiremsen)

Mongolian: ᠵᠢᠷᠮᠥᠰᠦᠨ (ǰirmösün)
Neapolitan: prena f
Norman: encheinte f
Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian:
Bokmål: gravid, svanger (of humans), drektig (no) (of animals); (heavily pregnant) høygravid, høggravid

Nynorsk: gravid, (heavily pregnant) høggravid
Occitan: emprenhat, gravid (oc)
Old English: bearnēacen
Oromo: ulfa
Ottoman Turkish: گبه (gebe), حامله (hamile)
Pashto: حامله (ps) (hāmela)
Persian: باردار (fa) (bârdâr), حامله (fa) (hâmele), آبستن (fa) (âbestan)
Plautdietsch: schwanga, droagent
Polish: ciężarny (pl), w ciąży (pl), brzemienny (pl) (literary)
Portuguese: grávida (pt) f, prenhe (pt) m or f, (colloquial) prenha (pt) f, embuchada (pt)
Punjabi: ਗਰਭਿਣੀ (garbhiṇī)
Quechua: cicu
Romani: khamni
Romanian: gravidă (ro), însărcinată (ro), borțoasă
Romansch: en speranza
Russian: бере́менный (ru) (berémennyj), (euphemism and colloquial) в положе́нии (ru) (v položénii), на сно́сях (ru) (na snósjax), на снося́х (ru) (na snosjáx), брюха́тый (ru) (brjuxátyj) (slang)
Sanskrit: गर्भवती (sa) (garbhavatī)
Sardinian: pringiu, prinzu, prossimu
Scots: buggen, biggen
Scottish Gaelic: torrach, trom, beò-leatromach, leatromach
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: бремѐнит, тру́дан

Roman: bremènit (sh), trúdan (sh)
Sicilian: ncinta f, prena (scn) f
Slovak: tehotný, brezivý (of animals)
Slovene: noseči, brej (of animals)
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: samodruga f
Spanish: embarazado (es), preñado (es), encinta (es), grávido, en estado
Swedish: gravid (sv), havande (sv), på smällen (sv) (slang), dräktig (sv) (of an animal), i grossess, med barn (sv)
Sylheti: ꠉꠣꠜꠤꠘ (gabíno)
Tagalog: buntis (tl)
Tajik: ҳомила (homila), ҳомиладор (tg) (homilador), бордор (bordor), обистан (tg) (obistan)
Tatar: йөкле (yökle)
Telugu: గర్భిణి (te) (garbhiṇi), కడుపుతో ఉన్న (kaḍuputō unna)
Thai: มีครรภ์ (mii-kan), ตั้งครรภ์ (th) (dtâng-kan), ท้อง (th) (tɔ́ɔng)
Tibetan: ཕྲུ་གུ་སྐྱེ་ཡག་ཡོད་པ (phru gu skye yag yod pa)
Tocharian B: itomtsa, preṃtsa
Turkish: gebe (tr), hamile (tr)
Turkmen: göwreli
Udi: хела (χela), хъела (qela)
Ukrainian: вагі́тний (uk) (vahítnyj), важки́й (uk) (važkýj), тяжки́й (uk) (tjažkýj), черева́тий (čerevátyj), беремі́нний (beremínnyj)
Urdu: حاملہ (hāmilā), باردار (bārdār), آبستن (ābistan), آبستہ (ābista), امید سے (umīd se), با امید (bā umīd), پیٹ سے (peṭ se)
Uyghur: ھامىلىدار (hamilidar)
Uzbek: homilador (uz), boʻgʻoz (uz)
Vietnamese: có thai, có mang thai, có chửa (vi)
Waray-Waray: burod
Welsh: beichiog (cy)
West Frisian: swier (fy)
Yiddish: שוואַנגער (shvanger), מעוברת (muberes), מעוברתדיק (muberesdik), טראָגעדיק (trogedik), בײַכלדיק (baykhldik) (pejorative), סמיקעדיק (smikedik) (of animals)
Zazaki: hal (diq) f, lıngagıran f, awr (diq) f (for animal)

having many possibilities or implications

Bulgarian: сми́слен (bg) (smíslen), съдържа́телен (bg) (sǎdǎržátelen)
Catalan: prenyat (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 怀孕 (zh) (huáiyùn)
Danish: prægnant
Dutch: betekenisvol (nl)
Finnish: monitahoinen, monisyinen
German: bedeutungsvoll (de)
Hungarian: jelentőségteljes (hu), sokatmondó (hu)
Italian: gravido (it)
Romanian: pregnant (ro)
Russian: чрева́тый (ru) (črevátyj), содержа́тельный (ru) (soderžátelʹnyj)
Turkish: gebe (tr)

fertile — see fertile

Noun

pregnant (plural pregnants)

A pregnant person.
- 1843, William Robert Wilde, Austria: Its Literary, Scientific, and Medical Institutions:
  The Entbundenen, or those already delivered, are separate from those pregnants awaiting their accouchement

Translations

pregnant person — see pregnant woman

Etymology 2

Apparently from Middle French pregnant, preignant (“pressing, compelling”), present participle of prembre (“to press”), from Latin premere (“to press”).

Adjective

pregnant (comparative more pregnant, superlative most pregnant)

(now rare) Compelling; clear, evident. [from 14th c.]
- 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:
  Peregrine was in a little time a distinguished character, not only for his acuteness of apprehension, but also for that mischievous fertility of fancy, of which we have already given such pregnant examples.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French pregnant, from Old French pregnant, from Latin praegnāns.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /prɛxˈnɑnt/
Audio: (file)
Hyphenation: preg‧nant
Rhymes: -ɑnt

Adjective

pregnant (comparative pregnanter, superlative pregnantst)

Declension

Declension of pregnant
uninflected	pregnant
inflected	pregnante
comparative	pregnanter
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		pregnant	pregnanter	het pregnantst het pregnantste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	pregnante	pregnantere	pregnantste
	n. sing.	pregnant	pregnanter	pregnantste
	plural	pregnante	pregnantere	pregnantste
definite		pregnante	pregnantere	pregnantste
partitive		pregnants	pregnanters	—

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from German prägnant and French prégnant.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /preɡˈnant/
Rhymes: -ant
Hyphenation: preg‧nant

Adjective

pregnant m or n (feminine singular pregnantă, masculine plural pregnanți, feminine and neuter plural pregnante)

(literary) evident, marked, manifest
Synonym: (literary) vădit

Declension

		masculine	feminine	masculine	neuter
		singular		plural
nominative- accusative	indefinite	pregnant	pregnantă	pregnanți	pregnante
nominative- accusative	definite	pregnantul	pregnanta	pregnanții	pregnantele
genitive- dative	indefinite	pregnant	pregnante	pregnanți	pregnante
genitive- dative	definite	pregnantului	pregnantei	pregnanților	pregnantilor

References

pregnant in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Swedish

Adjective

pregnant (comparative pregnantare, superlative pregnantast)

pregnant (clear and pithy, of an expression, language, or the like)
striking (distinctive, pronounced)

Usage notes

Pregnant as in carrying a baby is gravid (of a human) or dräktig (of an animal).

Declension

Inflection of **pregnant**
Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative¹
common singular	pregnant	pregnantare	pregnantast
neuter singular	pregnant	pregnantare	pregnantast
plural	pregnanta	pregnantare	pregnantast
masculine plural²	pregnante	pregnantare	pregnantast

Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular³	pregnante	pregnantare	pregnantaste
all	pregnanta	pregnantare	pregnantaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

References