pre-embryonicadj.

1875 Contemp. Rev. 27 81 The newly fertilized ovum—that is, in the earliest pre-embryonic stage.

1923 Amer. Naturalist 57 510 It is even less hard to believe..that the teratogenic conditions may exist in the germinal or preembryonic state, before fertilization.

1958 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 8 Jan. 28/2 Tooth decay prevention starts in pre-embryonic time. Evidently the concentrated calcium intake of pregnant women is not controlling tooth decay.

1987 New Scientist 10 Dec. 43/1 Such genetic testing could take place in the ‘pre-embryonic’ period, which spans the first two weeks after the human egg is fertilised.

2004 Plant Physiol. & Biochem. 42 470/1 Mutants were screened in collections of insertion (T-DNA) or ethyl methane-sulfonate mutagenized populations for impaired pre-embryonic development.