gestate

gestate

English

Etymology

Back-formation from gestation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɛsˈteɪt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪt

Verb

gestate (third-person singular simple present gestates, present participle gestating, simple past and past participle gestated)

1. (intransitive) To carry offspring in the uterus from conception to delivery.
   • 2012, H. DeWayne Ashmead, Amino Acid Chelation in Human and Animal Nutrition, CRC Press, →ISBN:

     In the early 1960s, a study was conducted in which gestating rats were given diets containing the same mineral content of mineral salts or amino acid chelates.

2. (by extension, intransitive) To develop an idea.
   • 1986, David Leavitt, The Lost Language of Cranes, paperback edition, Penguin, page 112:

     Philip wondered at that five-year gap. Perhaps it simply proved that a work of genius takes longer to gestate than a work of mere competent brilliance.

Related terms

• gestation

Translations

to carry offspring in the uterus

Catalan: gestar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 孕育 (zh) (yùnyù) Italian: gestare Portuguese: gestar (pt) Spanish: gestar (es)

to develop an idea

Catalan: gestar (ca) Portuguese: gestar (pt) Spanish: gestar (es)

Anagrams

• tagetes

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Latin

Participle

gestāte

1. vocative masculine singular of gestātus