'Pregnant' is Latin for 'before birth' — sharing its deepest root with 'native,' 'nature,' and 'gene.'
Carrying a developing embryo or fetus within the body; also, full of meaning or significance.
From Latin 'praegnans' (with child, pregnant), almost certainly composed of 'prae-' (before) + a form related to 'gnasci' / 'nasci' (to be born), from PIE *genh1- (to give birth, beget, bring into being). The literal meaning is 'before the birth' — naming the state that precedes and leads to parturition. The PIE root *genh1- is extraordinarily productive: it gave Latin 'gignere' (to beget), 'genus' (kind, birth, race), 'gens' (clan), 'natio' (nation, those born together), 'natura' (nature); Greek 'genos' (race, birth), 'genesis' (origin, birth), 'gonos' (offspring);
There are actually two separate English words spelled 'pregnant.' The one meaning 'with child' comes from Latin 'praegnāns.' The other, an archaic/literary word meaning 'compelling, cogent' (as in a 'pregnant argument'), comes from a completely different Latin word: 'premere' (to press), through