Plural of foetus; multiple unborn babies in their developmental stage before birth.
From Latin 'foetus' (offspring) with the modern English pluralization '-es' added, replacing the original Latin plural '-i.' This shift shows English gradually abandoning Latin irregular plurals.
The transition from 'foeti' to 'foetuses' shows English gradually simplifying its system—we stopped memorizing Latin rules and just added '-es' to everything, making the language easier for new speakers to learn.
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