English
gestation
Gestation comes from Latin gestātiō ‘bearing, carrying, wearing’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gezō‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgerō‘carry, bear’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEgestōas gestāre‘to bear, carry’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEgestātiō‘bearing, carrying, wearing’
- Englishearliest quotation 1900gestation
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gezō‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgerō‘carry, bear’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEgestōas gestāre‘to bear, carry’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEgestātiō‘bearing, carrying, wearing’
- Englishearliest quotation 1900gestation
Earliest quotation: 1900, Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams: Avon Books: “It was to a conversation with another friend who…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-
act, actual, active, activity, action, agency, actor, agent, strategy, suggest, agenda, essay, acre, ambiguous, activate, agile, agony, ambiguity, agility, squat, assay, agrarian, antagonist, axiom, radium, actuator, antagonism, cogent, agonist, agitation, digestion, antagonize, agitate, samaj, inexact, glucagon, digestible, exigent, agonize, actuate, 140 more
through Proto-Italic *gezō ‘to carry, bear’
through Latin gerō ‘carry, bear’
register, gesture, suggestion, digest, belligerent, congestion, ingest, agger, gerund, gestion, 15 more
through Latin gestō ‘to bear, carry’
Today it means
noun The period of time during which an animal or human offspring physically develops inside the mother's body until it is born.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- / gestation