Dictionary

superfetation en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /suːpəfəˈteɪʃən/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Latin superfetare (“conceive while pregnant”), from super- + fetus.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The formation of a fetus while another fetus is already present in the uterus.
2. (countable, uncountable) An excessive accumulation; a superfluous addition.
   • 1992, Geoffrey Wall, translator of Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary These gentlemen were greatly astonished at Bovary's romantic ideas, and the pharmacist hurried in to say to him: "This velvet looks to me rather a superfetation. Besides, the expense..."

Forms

Relateds

superfetatious · superfetate

Translations (3)

fr superfétation (formation of a fetus while another fetus is already present in the uterus.) · io superfetaciono (formation of a fetus while another fetus is already present in the uterus.) · es superfetación (formation of a fetus while another fetus is already present in the uterus.)