The Greek adjective enkuos (ἔγκυος) means 'pregnant' or 'great with child.' It appears once in the New Testament in Luke 2:5, describing Mary as Joseph's 'betrothed wife, who was pregnant [enkuos]' when they traveled to Bethlehem for the census.
The single appearance of enkuos in Luke 2:5 is embedded in one of the most theologically dense passages in Scripture — the nativity account. The clinical Greek term 'pregnant' stands in stark contrast to the miraculous reality Luke has already described: Mary was pregnant not by natural means but by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). The same word used for ordinary human pregnancy describes the one pregnancy in history that was both fully human (a genuine baby growing in a human body) and fully divine (the incarnation of the eternal Son of God). This is the mystery of the Incarnation: heaven in a womb, eternity entering time, God becoming vulnerable.