in utero
8
7.9
- idiom
- /ɪn ˈjuːtəroʊ/
- Specialized
:
in útero
- Monitoring a baby's health in utero can help detect potential issues before birth.
- in utero exposure
- in utero cigarette smoke
- fetus in utero
And so it's possible there's some timing difference in testosterone exposure or something in utero, but I there's no evidence for that.
- And so it's possible there's some timing difference in testosterone exposure or something in utero, but I there's no evidence for that.
- Well, shout out to that baby who's a millionaire in utero.
- Now there's a belief that heavy metal toxicity can be passed down in through giving birth in utero.
Examples
-
If a mother is consuming a large amount of something like garlic when she's pregnant, we know that that flavour passes into the amniotic fluid, and some research has shown that babies who are exposed to some specific flavours in utero actually continue to show preferences for those flavours later.
-
There are now well-described instances of human in utero exposures that have produced significant increases in later-life susceptibility to disease.
Academic text (2012) -
And all these can be the result of drug use while the child is in utero?
-
Or is it, rather, a failure to create a suitable in utero environment in the host female?
Academic text (1997) -
Not all children with in utero drug exposure will require services.
Academic text (1993) -
They are learning that babies in utero experience more of the outside world than they ever thought possible.
-
Also, it's a traumatic brain injury that happens either in utero during the birthing process or within the first couple of months of life.
-
Our study also suggested the importance of better understanding the long-term effects of in utero exposure within white populations.
Academic text (2011) -
Ascending group B streptococcus infection in utero has also been reported.
Academic text (1991) -
A blood sample taken in utero revealed a hemoglobin abnormality we'd never seen before.
Synonyms
92
1.6
Person or animal not yet born, especially a baby still in the mother's body
46
3.8
Happening before a baby is born during pregnancy
7
7.0
About the period when a baby grows inside the mother's womb
1
7.4
Happening inside the mother's womb
1
6.8
Happening before a baby is born, about being pregnant or care of the unborn child
1
6.9
Relating to a baby before it is born
The time before a baby is born, especially before labor
Surface Forms
Morphology
in + utero
The phrase is a literal locative composition of 'in' + 'utero' meaning 'inside the uterus', so the overall meaning is directly derivable from the parts. Although 'utero' is a medical/Latin form and may be unfamiliar to some B1 learners, if they know this constituent (or its cognate 'uterus'/'útero' in other languages) the expression is transparent.
Etymology
The phrase in utero comes from Latin and literally means 'in the womb'. So today doctors use in utero to say that something happens while a baby is still inside the mother, or 'before birth'.