pregnant
pregnant Lexical Profile
pregnant Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Having a child or young developing in the uterus; gestating.
"She announced to her family that she was pregnant with her second child."
Full of meaning, significance, or unspoken implication; charged with emotion or tension.
"There was a long, pregnant pause before the witness finally answered the prosecutor's question."
Filled or teeming with possibilities, ideas, or creative potential; fruitful.
"The historical era was pregnant with social and scientific breakthroughs."
Word Nuance & Usage
'Pregnant' actually represents two historically distinct words that merged in English: the biological sense derives from Latin 'praegnas' (before birth), whereas the figurative sense ('pregnant pause', meaning weighty or significant) derives from Old French 'preignant' (pressing or urgent, related to 'press').
• Rhymes for pregnant
Word Origin & Etymology
In the biological sense, from Middle English, borrowed from Latin 'praegnantem' ('with child'), formed from 'prae-' ('before') and the root of 'gnasci' ('to be born'). The figurative sense meaning 'weighty' or 'full of meaning' entered Middle English separately via Old French 'preignant' ('pressing, urgent'), from Latin 'premere' ('to press').
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.