The plural of gestation; periods of development or growth, especially the time a baby develops inside its mother before birth.
From Latin 'gestatio' (a carrying), derived from 'gestare' (to carry or bear). The meaning evolved from the physical act of carrying to describe the entire developmental period in the womb.
Human gestation lasts about 280 days, but elephants gestate for 645 days—the longest of any land mammal! The same Latin root gives us 'gesture' because Romans saw both carrying a baby and making hand movements as forms of 'bearing' or 'moving.'
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