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midwife

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishmidwif, corresponding tomid(“with”) +wif(“woman, wife, female”). It appears not to be entirely clear whether the original understanding was “with-woman” in the sense of “attending/assisting woman”, or “they who are with the woman” (namely the mother).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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midwife (pluralmidwives)

  2. (obstetrics) A person,usually awoman, who istrained toassist women inchildbirth, but who is not aphysician.
    A hundred years ago, amidwife would bring the baby into the world - going to a hospital to deliver a baby was either impossible or unheard of.
    • 2009,Jennifer Worth,Farewell to the East End, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, page235:
      The seniormidwife confirmed that[…] occasionally a multigravid woman could feel little more than slight abdominal discomfort.
    • 2017, Caroline Bicks,Midwiving Subjects in Shakespeare’s England, page123:
      Despite Richard's efforts to midwive his own narrative of legitimacy, the source of this legendary one cannot be controlled because it has moved from the mouths of nurses,midwives and gossips into the public domain.
  3. (rare, figuratively) Someone who assists in bringing about some result or project.

Usage notes

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  • The term is applicable to both males and females. Despite this, the termmidhusband is also sometimes used (usually in nonserious contexts).

Synonyms

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Coordinate terms

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Derived terms

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Related terms

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Translations

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person who assists women in childbirth
person who assists in bringing something about

Verb

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midwife (third-person singular simple presentmidwifes,present participlemidwifing,simple past and past participlemidwifed)

  1. (transitive) To act as a midwife.
  2. (transitive, figuratively) To facilitate the emergence of.
    • 2010 April 13,Thomas L. Friedman, “Attention: Baby on Board.”, inThe New York Times:
      But the bigger objective was to help Iraqismidwife a democratic model that could inspire reform across the Arab-Muslim world and give the youth there a chance at a better future.
    • 2013, Jon Carlson, William Knaus,Albert Ellis Revisited,→ISBN, page288:
      In the mid-1960s, Reichism wasmidwifed into reexistence by such stalwarts as William Schutz, Bernard Gunther, Charlotte Selver, Alexander Lowen, Ida Rolf, and many other exponents of human knead needs.

Usage notes

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  • The earliest forms of the verb usedv in place off (seetomidwive); however, forms withf (to midwife) are now just as common if not more commonly seen.

Translations

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to act as a midwife
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

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References

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  1. ^Jespersen, Otto (1909)A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎[1], volumes I: Sounds and Spellings,London:George Allen & Unwin, published1961,§ 7.32,page214.
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