Google dictionary calls a fetus an "unborn human baby"

[moobu2]

Here's what Google Dictionary say's exactly.

An unborn offspring of a mammal, in particular an unborn human baby more than eight weeks after conception.

LINK

Sounds like anti-abortion speak to me, or am I just being to sensitive? Anti-abortionists call a fetus a baby, and then condemn abortion as "baby killing".

Thesaurus say's a fetus is an "unborn human offspring".

unborn offspring: an unborn vertebrate at a stage when all the structural features of the adult are recognizable, especially an unborn human offspring after eight weeks of development

[cynatnite]

1. I actually prefer Cambridge Dictionary and Roget's Thesaurus...

It's never occurred to me to check into the publishers' political leanings.

[moobu2]

3. I usually use another one myself as well,

I just happened to use Google tonight and was a little surprised to see that term. :o

[Urban Prairie]

2. According to the rightwing bible-thumping POV, abortion is murder

That is, until after the fetus is born, then if the infant and/or mother experiences life threatening or severe physical complications from the birth, or for example, say the infant is a preemie, and needs to be immediately placed in an incubator, but the mother cannot afford to pay for the care, or has no health insurance, either or both can then just drop dead right on the delivery-room floor, as far as they are concerned.

[alp227]

4. Wonder which dictionary Google picked?

On the bottom: "The usage examples, images and web definitions on this page were selected automatically by a computer program. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Google Inc. or its employees." That's why I use Dict.org instead.

[LAGC]

32. Dictionary.com works for me.

fe·tus
   /ˈfitəs/ Show Spelled Show IPA
–noun, plural -tus·es. Embryology .
(used chiefly of viviparous mammals) the young of an animal in the womb or egg, esp. in the later stages of development when the body structures are in the recognizable form of its kind, in humans after the end of the second month of gestation.

[Very_Boring_Name]

5. What else would it be? An unborn dog?

It *is* an unborn human baby. That doesn't make it a life.

[moobu2]

7. Baby means a very young child AFTER it is born.

Right wing anti-abortionist wacko's frequently call a fetus a baby for political reasons and that is why I brought it up.

A fetus is not a baby.

[cynatnite]

9. Most call it that because they really do believe that's what it is...

I'm sure there are a few do it specifically for political reasons in order to keep the donations coming in, but there is a huge percentage who truly believe the second that conception happens then it's a baby. There is no changing their minds at all on this.

That's why arguments like these are pointless and a complete waste of energy, IMO. Neither side will give.

The only common ground for the most part is finding ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place.

[moobu2]

11. They're entitled to their own opinion,

but they're not entitled to their own facts, as the saying goes. It's no great big deal really, I just think getting these terms confused doesn't help the debate.

[bluerum]

37. The issue - fetus is a generic term. In no way does it imply a species.

The implication is- those who define the word in that way- to refer exclusively to a human fetus- are inaccurate and deceptive. Using it in that way is simply wrong on many levels.

There is no argument here. They are wrong. Defining the word like that is like claiming that the earth is flat in the face all evidence to the contrary. How do you take someone like that seriously? How do you have any trust in their judgment and decision making ability?

[kevinbgoode]

16. Whenever I hear someone telling me it is murder

I always ask them if a miscarriage is considered involuntary manslaughter. . .and if so, do you arrest God or indict the woman to investigate her prenatal care?

I never get an answer. . .most look at me as if astounded. . .as if they never even considered such a question. That's when you realize how many people just repeat mindlessly whatever talking points they are fed, without even considering if there are any other ideas.

But even better, ask an anti-abortionist why there are no laws preventing men from having premarital sex. . .and explain how many potential babies are "murdered" each time a man discharges without an egg to fertilize. Then ask why this behavior isn't restricted, since it would obviously solve most of the abortion problem as well?

The first thing you'll always hear is immediate protests from every man around.

[jp11]

38. Premarital sex doesn't have anything to do with the aborition=murder fight

and as for potential 'babies' being 'murdered' when a man discharges and there is no possibility of fertilizing an egg it is a false comparison for the murder rap. I'm sure you are well aware that a man's sperm will just die off if not sent out to fertilize an egg eventually just as a womans eggs die off if not fertilized.

For your argument to work people should be locked up in hospital/farms and have their sperm/eggs extracted to constantly and continuously pump out as many children as women could bare, possibly as young as both male and female are physically capable of producing egg/sperm and carrying a child to term. THEN both men and women would be guilty of 'murder' for not making every ridiculous effort to 'save' every chance at human propagation. I guess you want to make the point that men are 'murderers too' for the shock value since when casting that judgment against pregnant women anti-abortionists don't consider such a thing but as you've stated it the argument is false.

I just think if you are going to challenge anti-abortionists you shouldn't start with a false premise regardless if that is what they use to make their cases.

[nessa]

43. and the simple response they would have to the ..

miscarriage analogy is that miscarriage is death by natural causes not "unlawful killing of a human being". The anti-abortionists would argue that there is no killing involved with a miscarriage, but there is with abortion.

[kevinbgoode]

45. Except can't a miscarriage occur because of improper

nutrition, or improper prenatal care? Or what if a woman is prone to miscarriage, and allows herself to become pregnant anyway?

[kevinbgoode]

48. Premarital sex exists, and premarital sex can fertilize a woman's egg

So it seems possible to me that if a man is taught to be disciplined and restricted from sexual discharge by law, many of the reasons for abortion would be eliminated.

Why limit the control over someone else's body to the woman? After all, we have no constitutional provision which declares a fetus a citizen, so essentially doesn't the fetus exist outside the realm of law, and is only subject to regulation in accordance to its existence as a part of a woman's body?

It is interesting to note that, I believe, centuries ago, it was thought that men were the ones who actually carried/produced the babies from their sperm (the sperm contained the baby), and women were merely the ovens. I remember listening to an interesting radio program about this years ago - it was directly related to the reasons why the social animosity toward gay men was always greater than toward lesbian women. It was, apparently, believed that the man who was "on top" or discharged was actually committing the "crime against nature" while apparently in some quarters it was believed impossible for a woman to sexually pleasure another woman, so their behavior wasn't considered such a social threat.

An interesting idea. . .

[HEyHEY]

61. Oh yes, it's all fucking men's fault again, isn't it?

Why does DU allow this fucking hate speech?

[Maru Kitteh]

65. *yawn*

[HEyHEY]

67. Whatever, get back in the kitchen, martha

There, how do you like it? I find it such a pathetic comment on this website when someone can't even call Sarah Palin a bitch, but others are allowed to go on making broad statements suggesting men are all a bunch of anti-abortion oppressors.

[sabrina 1]

19. When you are pregnant, you certainly do think of the fetus you

are carrying as a baby. Older siblings refer to it as a 'new little brother or sister'.

I don't see anything wrong with that. I've never heard anyone who is expecting say, 'the fetus is kicking' have you? They generally say 'the baby is kicking'!

Anyhow, I don't see the big deal. Call it a fetus if you like, but most women will probably refer to it as a baby. That's just the way it is.

[Luminous Animal]

24. Only if you are commited to creating a baby.

Scientifically, it is a fetus kicking.

[HEyHEY]

63. I'll make a note of that next time someone who's only a couple months pregnant mentions that

[Mimosa]

26. Sabrina,you are the queen of logic

A growing fetus in a woman's body is what we t5hink of as a baby.

That's just how it is. The baby may turn out to be perfect, a boy or a girl.

Some few are deformed. But women carry 'babies' in our wombs.No religion, no politics. It's the regeneration of life.

[sabrina 1]

64. 'no religion, no politics'. Would that be nice every once in a while?

Thank you, all I know is I have a lot more things to worry about in this world than whether other people decide to refer to their pregnancies as 'carrying a baby' or not ~ :-)

[HEyHEY]

62. But it shouldn't be that way, dammit!

Why Can't you conform to DUers idea that google is politically loaded and just start hating them already!?

[aquart]

12. Never had that fetal pig in biology class?

[Luminous Animal]

18. Actually, yes. Or an unborn cow, cat, goat, horse, civet, raccoon, rat, mouse,

zebra, giraffe, eland, puma, lion, tiger, bear, fox, wolf, coyote, squirrel, moose, yeti, hamster, dolphin, whales, caribou, chipmonk, chimp, ape, orang, cow, pig, goat, lamb, big foot, llama, alpaca, dingo, hyena, possum, guinea pig, panda, kangaroo, koala, two-toed sloth, three-toed sloth, meercat, and cat. To name a few.

[Very_Boring_Name]

20. Clearly you didn't read the OP

The dictionary definition said an unborn mammal, and listed a human baby as an example. That is what the OP was specifically taking issue with, and that was what I was responding to.

[Luminous Animal]

21. Oh, I read the OP and I read your response. A fetus is, indeed, an unborn dog.

[uppityperson]

56. a fetus is not any particular species. Not "in particular an unborn human baby"

Fetus is a generic term. In no way does it imply a species.

[sarge43]

31. As a matter of fact yes, American Heritage College Dictionary:

fetus (1) The unborn young of a viviparous vertebrate having a basic structural resemblance to the adult animal.

[boppers]

6. Looks to be sourced from wiki.answers.com

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_definitions_of_the_fetus

edit away.

[The Wielding Truth]

8. Here's Webster's definition.

fe·tus   /ˈfitəs/ Show Spelled
Show IPA
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fetus?o=100083&q...
–noun, plural -tus·es. Embryology .
(used chiefly of viviparous mammals) the young of an animal in the womb or egg, esp. in the later stages of development when the body structures are in the recognizable form of its kind, in humans after the end of the second month of gestation.
Use fetus in a Sentence
See images of fetus
Search fetus on the Web
Also, especially British , foetus.
Compare embryo ( def. 2 ) .


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L fētus bringing forth of young, hence that which is born, offspring, young still in the womb, equiv. to fē- (v. base attested in L only in n. derivatives, as fēmina woman, fēcundus fecund, etc.; cf. Gk thēsthai to suck, milk, OHG tāan to suck, OIr denid (he) sucks) + -tus suffix of v. action Dictionary.com Unabridged

I think this is much more clinical and more clear.

[HEyHEY]

53. No, webster's refers to it as unborn, that's "dictionary.com" you have there

[The Wielding Truth]

66. Thanks. You are right. I thought I was there.

[MellowDem]

10. It is an unborn human...

That is quite true. Whether you think that the fetus is an "it" a "he" or a "she" with certain rights is all based on your personal morality. Science can't determine that.

[REP]

13. Yes, a human fetus is human but not A human; just as a human spleen is human but not A human

A human who is pregnant is likely to have a human fetus, that, once born, will be a human being.

[Rage for Order]

14. A fetus = a spleen

:bluebox:

[REP]

23. I'm sorry the point was lost on you.

[Luminous Animal]

22. Or an unborn rat.

[Mimosa]

28. Well, genetically a human isn't a 'rat'.

Why would you post that?

[muriel_volestrangler]

35. Because all mammals have a stage of development called a fetus

It would be just as incorrect to say "a fetus is an unborn human" as to say "a mammal is a human".

[MellowDem]

40. A human fetus...

was the obvious referance. Not just any random fetus in the animal kingdom. Methinks you are being rather intentionally obtuse.

[muriel_volestrangler]

41. No-one was looking up "human fetus" in a dictionary; they were looking up "fetus"

and thus the post pointing out 'or an unborn rat' was relevant. I think the reply saying "genetically a human isn't a 'rat'" was intentionally obtuse, however, because it was obvious no-one was trying to say a human is a rat; they were just trying to keep the subject that same as in the OP, rather than your narrowing of it to only humans.

[MellowDem]

42. The discussion was about...

the human definition. At least to me it was. Your opinion may differ over what the gist of the post was about. I still think your post was intentionally obtuse, as it was pretty obvious I was talking about a human fetus.

[Prometheus Bound]

15. My wife's 15 weeks pregnant and we'd been calling our unborn offspring a fetus.

But after watching our 'unborn human offspring' wave to the camera several times during ultrasounds we started calling our 'unborn vertebrate' 'the baby'. The other choices just seemed too awkward. Mind you, our hospital calls me the 'father of a pregnancy' to avoid using the other awkward terms I guess.

[Mimosa]

27. Prometheus Bound, I bet your baby has a sense of humour!

Think how wonderfully he or she is developing. :D

[Prometheus Bound]

36. I hope so, Mimosa.

And it is indeed very special to see her developing in each ultrasound. S/he really does seem to be waving, with the right hand moving back and forth each time they do an ultrasound.

[dipsydoodle]

17. Does it mention the uncle in the Addams family ?

:shrug:

[azurnoir]

25. speaking as a 'former fetus'

I find the species-ism in Googles definition quite appalling, fetus can apply to any species that carries it's young past x number of weeks gestation

[jbnow]

29. Google starts with that... "unborn offspring of a mammal"

and I am not appalled that it then goes on to use term an unborn human baby because a human fetus is an unborn human fetus who if they are born will be a baby human...

I am not appalled.

Many pregnancies end at the Zygote or Blastocyst stage, often before a woman even knows. Most abortions are performed at the Embryo stage. If we go far into the Fetus stage we usually call it our baby. We usually say "our fetus is kicking" or has the hiccups or what shall we name the fetus.
And god knows if someone has a stillbirth they don't feel like they lost their fetus.

However I thought Google dictionary was when you put into google
define: XXX
and when I put define fetus they offer
Definitions of fetus on the Web
and have many definitions with links and even a choice of languages.

I wouldn't have known enough to be offended

[azurnoir]

30. so then you are basically trashing the entire premise of the thread?

so interesting

wouldn't that comment be more appropriately addressed to the OP?

[jbnow]

39. No I'm not. I didn't know about this google dictionary before.

I always thought it was doing what I explained and linked to. I just threw that part in after my response to you... which was about my reaction to the definition given.

[HEyHEY]

58. If you don't want to hear reaction to a post, then don't post anything.

[Mimosa]

33. Lucky you that this is all which bothers you.

I don't even get why you think this is topic worthy, Moobu2.

Most thoughtful people wouldn't care.

[annabanana]

34. I dissected a fetal pig in high school. It was a fetus too. . . . n/t

[HEyHEY]

44. Holy fuck, who cares. I seriously doubt that's political

[Cerridwen]

46. It is political. Language is used for political purposes.

limbaugh knows it.

goebbels knew it.

orwell knew it.

gingrich knows it.

Any one with aspirations to political power knows it.

To paraphrase, "The winner writes history."

What is written and how it is portrayed and what words are used, matters.

[HEyHEY]

49. Ah yes, Google are famed for their anti-abortion stance

:eyes:

Sometimes words are just words.

[Cerridwen]

51. No, google is rapidly becoming known as that group of geeks who

follow the money and the power; when it is in their own best interests.

[HEyHEY]

52. Yes they proved that when they told China to get lost

It should also be noted that most definitions of fetus include the word "unborn" just cause freepers use it doesn't mean it's not legit when used in this sense. Stop making EVERYTHING politcal.

[Cerridwen]

54. I watched as the heritage foundation went from neo-conservative

think tank to "mainstream" think tank and advisor to politicians.

I watched as doctors who performed abortions went from OB/GYNs to abortion doctors.

I watched as family planning clinics were re-framed as abortion clinics.

I watched as limbaugh, robertson, falwell, gingrich, schlafly, et. al. turned liberal and Democrat into dirty words.

I fought and wrote letters. I did print and TV interviews. I fought and was shouted down by my own party for being overly-sensitive, it's just a joke, and it's no big deal.

Don't tell me language doesn't mean anything and words are just words.

I've goddamned lived it.

[HEyHEY]

55. well...

I watched as a man ordered a hamburger cause all he wanted was a hamburger. Anecdotal evidence is always outweighed by reality. Rush Limbaugh is a dink recognize him as one and move on. Micaheal Moore pulls the same shit only from a left wing perspective, that's why it's important not to listen to any of these people and make up your own mind. Hence google using the word "unborn" is being blown out of proportion if you read it from the perspective of someone not interested in taking a side dictated by what others sya.

[Cerridwen]

57. Have you been paying attention to the "debate" about language

and imagery in the US?

We have some serious issues.

When limbaugh was going after gays, non-whites (think about that hyphenated word for a second) and feminists, we were all told, it's just a joke, just fun, he's just an entertainer. That worked well, didn't it?

He's but one example of what happens when you allow language to be perverted for political and power-over usage.

If you read from a perspective of someone who has an agenda; then what do you see? I'm happy for you you think limbaugh is a dink. his followers think otherwise. As do palin's. And robertson's.

Sometimes a word is just a word; between you and me. But when it's out there to be consumed by those whose thinking is just in passing?

You write, don't you? Do you pick words just 'cuz or because they have a particular meaning and/or baggage. When you want to paint someone in a negative light, do you call them 'assertive' or 'aggressive'? Is a person 'attacked'? Or do you write of the one who attacks as having 'attacked'?

If you're a writer and you don't know the power of words, what kind of writer are you?

Use 'you' in the generic rather than the specific form if it suits your purposes. That, in and of itself, should say something about words.

[HEyHEY]

59. I use words to communicate information

For what I do I try to explain the situation as basically and neutral as possible. However, it's STILL easy as can be to have someone look at the words I've used and try to accuse me of somehow twisting facts. The beauty of spin is that anyone can take a simple sentence and argue a way to make it say something they want.

In this case, it's google's use of unborn. It's unborn, that's what it is. An unborn and developing mammal. Whether human or what have you, that's what it is.

There's many instances where words are twisted, I don't believe this is one of them.

[Cerridwen]

60. I disagree.

Congratulations on remaining "objective."

Our politicians, media, and opinion makers here don't do as well.

You and I will not agree. I'm tired and it's late for me.

Continue to think all who define words are as "objective" as you.

I know differently.

The last word *snort* is yours if you want it.

[Cerridwen]

47. It is political. Language is used for political purposes.

limbaugh knows it.

goebbels knew it.

orwell knew it.

gingrich knows it.

Any one with aspirations to political power knows it.

To paraphrase, "The winner writes history."

What is written and how it is portrayed and what words are used, matters.

[kentauros]

50. I usually look at the etymology first, then the distionary meaning.

Thus:

fetus
late 14c., "the young while in the womb or egg," from L. fetus (often, incorrectly, foetus) "the bearing, bringing forth, or hatching of young," from Latin base *fe- "to generate, bear," also "to suck, suckle" (see fecund). In Latin, fetus sometimes was transferred figuratively to the newborn creature itself, or used in a sense of "offspring, brood" (cf. Horace's "Germania quos horrida parturit Fetus"), but this was not the basic meaning. Also used of plants, in the sense of "fruit, produce, shoot." The spelling foetus is sometimes attempted as a learned Latinism, but it is not historic.

So, I can see how misuse and misinterpretation can occur :)