Meanings
plural gestation periods
- The average interval between fertilization and birth of a mammal; ranges from 13 days for the opossum to 626 days for the Indian elephant.
We have waited a very long time for the Railways Bill to see the light of day. The starting gun was fired as long ago as May 2021, when the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail was finally published, after its own gestation period of nearly three years.
2025 November 26, Sir Michael Holden, “Good and bad in the Bill”, in RAIL, number 1049, page 15
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe period during which an embryo develops (about 266 days in humans)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Finnish kantoaika
- kantoaikathe average interval between fertilization and birth of a mammal
Irish tréimhse iompair
- tréimhse iompairthe average interval between fertilization and birth of a mammal
Cite this entry
gestation period. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gestation%20period
“gestation period.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gestation%20period. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gestation period,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gestation%20period.
Source: gestation period on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.