adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˈfitl̩/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -iːtəl
CMU ARPABET:F IY1 T AH0 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Topics: embryology, medicine, sciences
Examples
fetal circulation
fetal membranes
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
In the fetal position.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal, not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adjective
Meaning 3
of or relating to a fetus
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
fetal development
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: foetal
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From fetus + -al.
Across languages
Translations
16 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Catalan:
fetal
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
Chinese Mandarin:
胎兒的 /胎儿的
(tāiér de)
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
Czech:
plodový
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
Czech:
fetální
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
Esperanto:
feta
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
Finnish:
sikiö-
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
French:
fœtal
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
Galician:
fetal
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
German:
fötal
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
German:
fetal
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
Italian:
fetale
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
Occitan:
fetal
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
Portuguese:
fetal
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
Russian:
эмбриона́льный
(embrionálʹnyj)
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
Russian:
заро́дышевый
(zaródyševyj)
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus
Spanish:
fetal
— pertaining to, or connected with, a fetus