Skip to main content
preborn

preborn

1 6.9
Relating to a baby before it is born
  • adjective
  • /priːˈbɔrn/
translation icon : no nacido
  • Doctors monitor the health of preborn babies during routine check-ups.
  • preborn humans
  • preborn human beings

Examples

  • Biden is saying: "I believe what the Catholic Church believes, that preborn children are sacred human lives—but I will simply stand by while anyone who wants to do so kills them."

    Blog text (8)
  • Should preborn human beings be considered legal "persons" within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment, or do states retain authority to make abortion policy?

    Academic text (2016)
  • The Court never addressed the preborn individual's standing since it assumed that he or she was not a "person."

    Academic text (2016)
  • We're amazed that the state can seek to punish someone for endangering their preborn baby and then allow them to kill it through abortion.

  • On this view, preborn human beings possess no constitutionally guaranteed rights to equal treatment.

    Academic text (2016)
  • Textual analysis and examination of dictionary usage support the conclusion that the Fourteenth Amendment protects preborn humans.

    Academic text (2016)
  • If the Due Process Clause protects unborn children's representational rights in a probate hearing, should not a preborn child be even more entitled to due process to secure her life?

    Academic text (2016)
  • The rights of preborn children have been a topic of much debate in society.

  • Many parents prepare for the arrival of their preborn child by setting up a nursery.

Synonyms

unborn
vspreborn
92 1.6

Person or animal not yet born, especially a baby still in the mother's body

focuses on relations to a baby before birth not-yet-born state
fetal
vspreborn
  • Specialized
81 3.9

Relating to a baby before it is born

is the general term for things before birth not limited to that baby stage
prenatal
vspreborn
46 3.8

Happening before a baby is born during pregnancy

is broader and covers any relation to before birth beyond medical care
in utero
vspreborn
  • Specialized
8 7.9

The time when a baby is still inside its mother's womb

is broader and applies to things before birth not only inside the uterus
antenatal
vspreborn
  • UK
1 6.8

Happening before a baby is born, about being pregnant or care of the unborn child

is more general and not only about medical care before birth

Surface Forms

preborn positive

Morphology

preborn = born (transparent) = pre + born

Knowing 'pre-' and 'born', a learner can straightforwardly infer the meaning 'before birth' or 'unborn'.

Etymology

Preborn starts with the pre- part meaning 'before' and ends with born, so it literally means 'before birth', and that helps you remember it is an adjective for things relating to a baby before it is born.