noun
In the reproductive cycle, the stage after the fertilization of the egg that precedes the development into a fetus.
An organism in the earlier stages of development before it emerges from the egg, or before metamorphosis.
In a viviparous animal, the young animal's earliest stages in the mother's body.
In a human, usually the cell growth of the child within the mother's body, through the end of the seventh week of pregnancy.
(botany) A rudimentary plant contained in the seed.
(figurative) The beginning; the first stage of anything.