Cure of Ars Posted October 10, 2004 Posted October 10, 2004 I have heard it said that fetus means “little one” in Latin. Is this true? Does anyone have any insight into this? Does anyone know of source martial on the web that proves this?
franciscanheart Posted October 10, 2004 Posted October 10, 2004 You should ask Raphael.... he would know. I'll PM him right now but I bet if you asked him he would know.
track2004 Posted October 10, 2004 Posted October 10, 2004 OK my Latin Dictionary says: fetus, -a, -um (adj) -- (1) [i]pregnant; fruitful, fertile; teeming with, full of.[/i] (2) [i]that has brought fourth, newly delivered.[/i] fetus -us (noun) -- [i]the bringing fourth of hatching of young[/i]; of the soil: [i]bearing, producing[/i]. Trans. [i]that which is brought fourth; offspring, brood[/i]; of plants: [i]fruit, produce, shoot[/i]
Theoketos Posted October 10, 2004 Posted October 10, 2004 The "noun" gave I think is more of gerundive. I am in a library, I will find the phatest dictionary we have and report back.
Theoketos Posted October 10, 2004 Posted October 10, 2004 Fetus^2 ~ us m. [as prec = tvs^3] 1. The Bringing forth of young, parturition: (of birds) laying; an instance of this, a birth. b the bearing of young, breeding c. conception, begetting. 2. The bearing of fruit by plants; (also by the Earth) 3. That which is born, an offspring (usu of beast occ. of human being, ect) b (sg. collect.) the young (of an animal), the childern (of a parent). c the young born at one time, brood, litter. d the young while still in the womb 4. A Fruit of a plant, produce, crop. b. And offshoot, branch, sucker, sapling, etc., produced by a plant. c (transf.) a product of the mind of imagination -Oxford Latin Dictionaries. (Did you know that they make Latin Dictionaries that are soley in Latin, and I that I am really rusty in Latin, more then I even realized.)
Thy Geekdom Come Posted October 10, 2004 Posted October 10, 2004 The Latin listed by track2004 is correct: [quote]fetus, -a, -um (adj) -- (1) pregnant; fruitful, fertile; teeming with, full of. (2) that has brought fourth, newly delivered. fetus -us (noun) -- the bringing fourth of hatching of young; of the soil: bearing, producing. Trans. that which is brought fourth; offspring, brood; of plants: fruit, produce, shoot[/quote] The noun form is not a gerund, properly speaking, because the Romans had a very special form for gerund which could not be confused with [i]fetus[/i] by any means. The noun form would more properly be defined as [i]labor[/i] or [i]the act of giving birth[/i] as opposed to [i]giving birth[/i].
Thy Geekdom Come Posted October 10, 2004 Posted October 10, 2004 [quote name='Theoketos' date='Oct 10 2004, 05:56 PM'] What would "fetus est" mean then? [/quote] It is labor. It is childbirth. I know the distinction is slight with the "act of [insert verbal noun here]," but it is there, at least in the Latin.
StColette Posted October 11, 2004 Posted October 11, 2004 hehe I need to study Latin !! Hey Micah, will you teach me Latin if I teach you French lol Pwetty pwease
Cure of Ars Posted October 11, 2004 Author Posted October 11, 2004 (edited) Thanks for you help. You guys are the best. I wanted to make a reasonable argument about using the term baby for the pre-born. I have had people who are pro-abortion complain and tell me that the term fetus should be used instead of baby because it is the medical term. But the real motivation behind them not liking the term baby is because it is a term of endearment and they do not what people to get emotionally attached so they can kill babies. Ok how about this, is this correct? "fetus" comes from the Latin word foetus, meaning "little one." If I can show that fetus was originally a term of endearment (little one) this would be a good argument. Edited October 11, 2004 by Cure of Ars
Thy Geekdom Come Posted October 11, 2004 Posted October 11, 2004 [quote name='Cure of Ars' date='Oct 10 2004, 09:09 PM'] Thanks for you help. You guys are the best. I wanted to make a reasonable argument about using the term baby for the pre-born. I have had people who are pro-abortion complain and tell me that the term fetus should be used instead of baby because it is the medical term. But the real motivation behind them not liking the term baby is because it is a term of endearment and they do not what people to get emotionally attached so they can kill babies. Ok how about this, is this correct? "fetus" comes from the Latin word foetus, meaning "little one." If I can show that fetus was originally a term of endearment (little one) this would be a good argument. [/quote] No, I'm sorry to say it, but "fetus" is a purely scientific term. In fact, it originally applied to plants, then was extended to animals and humans.
franciscanheart Posted October 11, 2004 Posted October 11, 2004 hehe i know im late but i asked ^^ haha Fetus, also spelled foetus, is the Latin for the act of childbirth. Over time, it came to be applied also to mean offspring, product, fruit or produce.
Cure of Ars Posted October 11, 2004 Author Posted October 11, 2004 [quote name='Raphael' date='Oct 10 2004, 08:37 PM'] No, I'm sorry to say it, but "fetus" is a purely scientific term. In fact, it originally applied to plants, then was extended to animals and humans. [/quote] That's too bad. -_- It was worth the try. I appriciate you helping me Raphael. And that goes for everyone else that helped.
cmotherofpirl Posted October 12, 2004 Posted October 12, 2004 Ifs its an offspring, then its human like the mother
Thy Geekdom Come Posted October 12, 2004 Posted October 12, 2004 [quote name='cmotherofpirl' date='Oct 12 2004, 07:45 AM'] Ifs its an offspring, then its human like the mother [/quote] That's a good point...hadn't thought of it. That works entirely within the context of the Latin.
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