Etymograph

English

pregnant

Pregnant comes from Latin praegnāns, probably from prae- ‘before’ + an old form of nāscor ‘to be born’, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-1‘to give birth’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnāskōr1‘to be born’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnāscor2as nāscī‘to be born’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraegnāns2
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400preignant2
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500preignant2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590pregnant2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin nascor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English pregnant
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto VI: “The sunne-beames bright vpon her body playd, / Being…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-Wiktionary, Latin nascor‘to give birth’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnāskōrWiktionary, Latin nascor‘to be born’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnāscorWiktionary, English pregnantas nāscī‘to be born’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraegnānsWiktionary, English pregnant
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400preignantWiktionary, English pregnant
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500preignantWiktionary, English pregnant
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590pregnantWiktionary, English pregnant. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with pregnant, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to give birth’

  • general ← generālis ← genus ← *genos ← *ǵénh₁os
  • kind ← kynde ← cynd ← *kundi ← *kinþiz
  • king ← cening ← *kuning ← *kuningaz ← *kunją
  • engine ← engyn ← ingenium ← gignō ← *gignō
  • generation ← generacioun ← generacion ← generātiō ← generō
  • german ← germain ← germānus ← germen ← *genamen
  • nation ← nacioun ← nacion ← nātiōnem ← nātiō
  • gender ← gendre ← gendre ← genus ← *genos
  • genuine ← genuīnus
  • gene ← Gen ← γενεά ← *genehā́ ← *ǵenh₁eseh₂
  • genius ← gignō ← *gignō ← *ǵíǵn̥h₁eti
  • oxygen ← oxygène ← γένος ← *génos ← *ǵénh₁os

148 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Carrying developing offspring within the body.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pregnant”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin nascor. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- / pregnant