怀孕

在英语中，“conceived”或“conception”是过去常常用来描述孕妇的措辞，(分别对应中国文化中的“有喜了”或“怀孕”——译者注)。现今，这些措辞在日常生活用语中较少听到了，而且许多人现在可能发现孕妇们是多么地炫耀和感情夸张。然而，当科学家们定义“一个新生命的肇始”或“一个新个体生活的开始”时，照例求助于这个单词“怀孕”(conception)。可是，这些表面上简单的定义，包含着甚至到现在也远没有完全弄懂的非常复杂的现象。所以，不是所有的科学家都按照同样的定义来使用“怀孕”(conception)这个词语。

Conception

It used to be said of a pregnant woman that she had "conceived," or that a "conception" had taken place inside her body. Today, these terms are rarely heard in everyday speech, and many people may now find them pretentious and melodramatic. Nevertheless, scientists still fall back on the word "conception" as a matter of course when they want to refer to "the beginning of a new life" or "the beginning of the existence of a new individual".
However, these seemingly simple definitions cover a very complex phenomenon that even now is far from being fully understood. Consequently, not all scientists use the word "conception" in the same way.