fetus

 
Pronunciation: /ˈfiːtəs/
(British (in non-technical use) also foetus)

noun (plural fetuses)

  • an unborn or unhatched offspring of a mammal, in particular, an unborn human more than eight weeks after conception.

Origin:

late Middle English: from Latin fetus 'pregnancy, childbirth, offspring'

The spelling foetus has no etymological basis but is recorded from the 16th century and until recently was the standard British spelling in both technical and non-technical use. In technical usage fetus is now the standard spelling throughout the English-speaking world, but foetus is still found in British English outside technical contexts.