[freedomfiter2]

I'm picky about the meaning of words also. From conception to week 8 it's called an embryo. From week 9 until birth it's called a fetus. From birth until age 2 it's a baby (a bit longer for liberals) Just use the scientific terms that we all understand and don't cloud the issues.

In normal discourse we stick with english. Fetus is latin for baby.

[Verginius Rufus]

Latin fetus (or foetus) was rarely used of human offspring, more commonly of the offspring of animals (or birds) or the fruit of plants.

[Raymann]

We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary. --James D. Nicoll

[RobbyS]

So what is the difference between an embryo and a fetus? The old Thorndike-Barnhart dictionary said that an embryo was an undeveloped animal before its organs had developed enough to allow it to live independently. In the case of human beings, that would be about 26 weeks or, since the definition is vague, till birth. Fetus is defined as the animal embryo in its last stages of development. Obviously the abortion debate has led judges to impose own meanings which have little to do with science.