midwife (redirected from midwifing)

mid·wife  (mdwf)

n. pl. mid·wives (-wvz)

1. A person, usually a woman, who is trained to assist women in childbirth. Also called regionally granny, granny woman.

2. One who assists in or takes a part in bringing about a result: "In the Renaissance, artists and writers start to serve as midwives of fame" Carlin Romano.

tr.v. mid·wifed or mid·wived (-wvd), mid·wif·ing or mid·wiv·ing (-wvng), mid·wifes or mid·wives (-wvz)

1. To assist in the birth of (a baby).

2. To assist in bringing forth or about: "Washington's efforts to midwife a Mideast settlement" Newsweek.

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[Middle English midwif : probably mid, with (from Old English; see me-² in Indo-European roots) + wif, woman (from Old English wf).]

Word History: The word midwife is the sort of word whose etymology seems perfectly clear until one tries to figure it out. Wife would seem to refer to the woman giving birth, who is usually a wife, but mid ? A knowledge of older senses of words helps us with this puzzle. Wife in its earlier history meant "woman," as it still did when the compound midwife was formed in Middle English (first recorded around 1300). Mid is probably a preposition, meaning "together with." Thus a midwife was literally a "with woman" or "a woman who assists other women in childbirth." Even though obstetrics has been rather resistant to midwifery until fairly recently, the etymology of obstetric is rather similar, going back to the Latin word obstetrx, "a midwife," from the verb obstre, "to stand in front of," and the feminine suffix -trx; the obstetrx would thus literally stand in front of the baby.

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midwife

Noun

pl -wives a person qualified to deliver babies and to care for women before, during, and after childbirth [Old English mid with + wīf woman]

midwifery [mid-wiff-fer-ree]

Noun

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

midwife - a woman skilled in aiding the delivery of babies accoucheuse nurse - one skilled in caring for young children or the sick (usually under the supervision of a physician)

Translations

midwife [pl midwives] [ˈmɪdwaɪf, -waɪvz] n → comadrona

midwife [midwives , pl ] [ˈmɪdwaɪf, -vz] n → sage-femme f

midwife [ˈmɪdwaɪf] [midwives , pl ] n → Hebamme f

midwife [pl midwives] [ˈmɪdwaɪf, -vz] n → levatrice f

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midwife

n midwife [ˈmidwaif]

a person (usually a trained nurse) who helps at the birth of children. vroedvrouقابِلَه، مُوَلِّدَهакушеркаporodní asistentkajordemordie Hebammeμαίαcomadrona, partera, matronaämmaemandماماkätilösage-femmeמְיָלֶדֶתदाईprimaljabábabidanljósmóðirlevatrice, ostetrica助産婦조산원, 산파akušerė, pribuvėjavecmāte, akušierebidanvroedvrouwjordmorpołożna, akuszerkaparteiramoaşăакушеркаpôrodná asistentkababicababicabarnmorskaนางพยาบาลผดุงครรภ์ebe助產士акушерка; повитухаقابلہbà đỡ助产士

n midˈwifery [midˈwi-, (American ) ˈmidwai-]

vroedvroueryقِبالَه، مِهْنَة التَّوْليدакушерствоporodnictvífødselshjælpdie Geburtshilfeμαιευτικήobstetriciasünnitusabiماماییsynnytysoppiobstétriqueמְיַלדותसूतिकर्म, दाई का काम, धात्री-विद्या, प्रसूति-विद्या, प्रसूति-तन्त्रprimateljstvobábáskodás, bábaságkebidananfæðingarhjálpostetricia助産術조산술akušerijaakušērijaperbidananverloskundefødselshjelppołożnictwoobstretíciamoşit; obstre­ticăакушерствоpôrodníctvobabištvorad babiceförlossningskonst, -hjälp, obstetrikการผดุงครรภ์ebelik接生акушерствоقبالتthuật đỡ đẻ接生