The building blocks of English

Affixes

feto-

Also feti‑ and foeto-.

The fetus.

Latin fetus, pregnancy, childbirth, offspring.

A fetoprotein is an antigen that occurs naturally in fetuses, but in adults only as a result of certain diseases; feticide (Latin ‑cida, from caedere, kill) is destruction or abortion of a fetus; something fetotoxic is poisonous to a fetus; fetoscopy is the direct observation of the uterus and fetus using a fibre-optic instrument; fetology is the branch of medicine concerned with the study and treatment of the fetus. Spellings in foeto‑ (foetus, foeticide) are now found only in non-technical contexts in Britain.