Dictionary

superfetate en · VERB

Etymology

From Latin superfetare, from super (“above, over”) + fetare (“to bring forth”).

Meanings

1. To conceive after a prior conception, but before the birth of the offspring.
   • The hare, for instance, which is hunted alike by beasts, birds, and men, breeds so abundantly as even to superfetate, a thing which is true of no other animal. You find in a hare's belly, at one and the same time, some of the young all covered with fur, others quite naked, others again just fully formed in the womb, while the hare perhaps has lately conceived afresh. 1910, Herodotus, translated by George Rawlinson, The History of Herodotus, Book 3:
   • Rabbits breed in every month of the year, and superfetate, as do hares; after giving birth they pair again at once. 1938, Pliny the Elder, translated by H. Rackham, Natural History, Book 10:

Forms

Deriveds

superfetation