Oviparous
/oʊˈvɪp.ər.əs/noun
Producing or laying eggs that develop and hatch outside the mother’s body.
Did you know?Its Latin roots, ovum + parere, mean “egg” + “to bring forth,” so the word was built from the ancient idea of something being “born out” into the world.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂ōw-
“Egg”
Latin
Latin
ovum
“Egg”
Latin
Latin
parere
“To bring forth, bear, produce”
Late Latin
Latin
oviparus
“Egg-bearing; producing eggs”
16th–17th Century
English
oviparous
“Producing eggs that hatch outside the body”
Modern English
English
oviparous
“Producing or laying eggs that develop and hatch outside the mother’s body”