embryo

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin embryō, from Ancient Greek ἔμβρυον (émbruon, “fetus”), from ἐν (en, “in-”) + βρύω (brúō, “I grow, swell”). Possibly related to Hebrew עֻבָּר (“fetus, embryo”) (ʊbar).

noun

1. In the reproductive cycle, the stage after the fertilization of the egg that precedes the development into a fetus.
2. An organism in the earlier stages of development before it emerges from the egg, or before metamorphosis.
3. In viviparous animals, the young animal's earliest stages in the mother's body
4. In humans, usually the cell growth of the child within the mother's body, through the end of the seventh week of pregnancy
5. (botany) A rudimentary plant contained in the seed.
6. (figurative) The beginning; the first stage of anything.