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.

   • 1990 December 9, Walta Borawski, quoting Allen Barnett, “'Unfortunately, Life Has Followed Art...'”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 21, page 7:

     Barnett is not currently working on a novel. "Something is gestating in my head," he says, "but I am not yet sure if I have one character or two."

Related terms

• gestation

Translations

to carry offspring in the uterus

• Catalan: gestar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 孕育 (zh) (yùnyù)

• Greek: κυοφορώ (el) (kyoforó)
• Italian: gestare
• Portuguese: gestar (pt)
• Spanish: gestar (es)

to develop an idea

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

Anagrams

• tagetes

Latin

Participle

gestāte

1. vocative masculine singular of gestātus

Spanish

Verb

gestate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of gestar combined with te