Pregnant; with child (adjective); also, the outer wall or fortification of a fortress (noun).
From Old French 'enceinte,' from Latin 'incincta.' Has two distinct meanings: one biological (pregnancy) and one architectural (encircling wall).
It's fascinating that one word means both 'pregnant' and 'fortress wall'—the fortress meaning comes from the same root (something that encloses or girds), showing how architecture and body imagery overlapped in medieval languages!
French term historically used exclusively for pregnant women; carries implicit assumption of female-only application. The masculine form 'enceint' exists but is archaic/unused, reflecting how pregnancy was linguistically coded as feminine even when technically applicable to any pregnant person.
Use 'pregnant' or 'pregnancy' in English contexts. In French, specify 'enceinte' when necessary but recognize the term's gendered history.
["pregnant","expecting","in pregnancy"]
Women's biological capacity for pregnancy has been both celebrated and weaponized to restrict women's social roles; acknowledge pregnancy as a life stage, not a defining identity.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.