gravid

adjective

grav·​id ˈgra-vəd 

1

: pregnant

gravid mares

2

: distended with or full of eggs

a gravid fish

gravidity

gra-ˈvi-də-tē 

noun

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When Should You Use gravid?

Gravid comes from Latin gravis, meaning "heavy." It can refer to a female who is literally pregnant, and it also has the figurative meanings of pregnant: "full or teeming" and "meaningful." Thus, a writer may be gravid with ideas as she sits down to write; a cloud may be gravid with rain; or a speaker may make a gravid pause before announcing his remarkable findings.

Synonyms

• big
• caught
• enceinte
• expectant
• expecting
• gone
• heavy
• pregnant
• quick [archaic]

Examples of gravid in a Sentence

the patient is a gravid woman in her seventh month

Recent Examples on the Web

Unlike young females, gravid females need to locate carrion for oviposition and distinguish between fresh and aging carrion, the latter possibly detrimental to offspring. —Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2017

Paloski said the massasauga encountered could be a gravid female about to give birth. —Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2022

Jay enlisted artist Lukas Geronimas to DJ after dinner, smoothing out what usually ends up as an ad hoc dance party with tipsy guests fighting over the aux cord while those too gravid with barbeque to dance sip ginger ale and watch. —Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2022

Heritage Restaurant & Caviar Bar opened in early August, the week of the Sturgeon Moon, which is when the Algonquins believed the Great Lakes teemed with gravid fish. —Mike Sula, Chicago Reader, 27 Sep. 2017

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin gravidus, from gravis "heavy" + -idus, adjective suffix — more at grave entry 2

Note: Latin adjectives with the suffix -idus regularly correspond to nouns ending in -or and/or verbs of the second conjugation, sometimes with a secondary verbal derivative with the inchoative suffix -ēsc-. The word gravidus does not fit this pattern and anomalously appears to be derived directly from a more basic adjective, though the grounds for such a process may be the existence of gravēscere "to become weighed down, become pregnant," from which gravidus may have been created by a sort of back-formation. On the other hand, gravidus is attested significantly earlier than gravēscere.

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

gravid

adjective

grav·​id ˈgrav-əd 

: pregnant sense 1

Medical Definition

gravid

adjective

grav·​id ˈgrav-əd 

: pregnant