English
pregnant
Pregnant comes from Latin praegnāns, probably from prae- ‘before’ + an old form of nāscor ‘to be born’, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to give birth’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnāskōr‘to be born’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnāscoras nāscī‘to be born’uncertain
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraegnāns
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400preignant
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500preignant
- Englishearliest quotation 1590pregnant
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to give birth’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnāskōr‘to be born’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnāscoras nāscī‘to be born’uncertain
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraegnāns
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400preignant
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500preignant
- Englishearliest quotation 1590pregnant
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto VI: “The sunne-beames bright vpon her body playd, / Being…”
The story
From Middle English preignant, from Old French preignant, pregnant, also prenant (compare archaic Modern French prégnant), and their source, Latin praegnāns (‘pregnant’), probably from prae- (‘pre-’) + *gnāscī, an archaic form of nāscī (‘to be born’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to give birth’
general, kind, king, engine, generation, german, nation, gender, genuine, gene, genius, oxygen, ken, indigenous, hydrogen, gentle, genre, genocide, genus, kin, noel, naive, genital, ingenious, germ, nativity, nada, gens, naïve, gentile, puny, glycogen, genial, gingerly, janata, genitive, genteel, jaunty, cognate, azadi, 108 more
through Latin nāscor ‘to be born’
nature, native, innate, nee, natal, nascent, renate, 10 more
Today it means
adj Carrying developing offspring within the body.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- / pregnant