An unborn baby mammal, especially a human, from about eight weeks after conception until birth.
From Latin 'foetus,' possibly derived from 'fecundus' (fertile). The British spelling retains the Latin 'oe' diphthong, while American English simplified it to 'fetus,' showing how spelling evolved differently across countries.
The spelling difference between British 'foetus' and American 'fetus' is a window into how languages change—Britain kept the classical Latin look while America chose practicality, and both are equally correct depending on where you are.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.