superfetation
noun/suːpəfəˈteɪʃən/
Etymology From Latin superfetare (“conceive while pregnant”), from super- + fetus.
1
The formation of a fetus while another fetus is already present in the uterus.
2
An excessive accumulation; a superfluous addition.
- 1992, Geoffrey Wall, translator of Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary These gentlemen were greatly astonished at Bovary's romantic ideas, and the pharmacist hurried in to say to him: "This velvet looks to me rather a superfetation. Besides, the expense..."
- Related terms
- superfetate, superfetatious