A conceptus (from
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
: ''concipere'', to conceive) is an
embryo and its
appendages (adnexa), the associated membranes,
placenta, and
umbilical cord; the products of conception
or, more broadly, "the product of conception at any point between fertilization and birth."
['' The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (2011), 5th ed., p. 381.] The conceptus includes all structures that develop from the zygote, both embryonic and extraembryonic. It includes the embryo as well as the embryonic part of the placenta and its associated membranes:
amnion,
chorion (
gestational sac), and
yolk sac.
References
Embryology
Human pregnancy
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