midwife

midwife

English

Alternative forms

• midwive (verb)

Etymology

From Middle English midwif, corresponding to mid (“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

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɪd.waɪf/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪd.(w)ɪf/[1]

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

midwife (plural midwives)

1. A person, usually a woman, who is trained to assist women in childbirth, but who is not a physician.

   A hundred years ago, a midwife would bring the baby into the world - going to a hospital to deliver a baby was either impossible or unheard of.

2. (rare, figuratively) Someone who assists in bringing about some result or project.

Usage notes

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

Synonyms

• accoucheuse

Coordinate terms

• accoucheur
• man-midwife

Derived terms

• midwife toad
• midwifery

Related terms

• midhusband

Translations

person who assists women in childbirth

Afrikaans: vroedvrou Alabama: tayyi alikchi Albanian: mami (sq) f, babo (sq) f Arabic: قَابِلَة‎ f (qābila), دَايَة‎ f (dāya) Egyptian Arabic: ولادة‎ f (wallāda), داية‎ f (dāya), Gulf Arabic: داية‎ f (dāya) Armenian: տատմեր (hy) (tatmer), մանկաբարձուհի (hy) (mankabarjuhi), դայակ (hy) (dayak) (Western Armenian) Azerbaijani: mama (az), mamaça Basque: emagin (eu) Belarusian: акушэ́рка f (akušérka), ба́бка f (bábka) (rural), павіту́ха f (pavitúxa) (rural), ба́ба f (bába) (rural) Bengali: দাই (dai), ধাত্রী (bn) (dhatrī), মিডওয়াইফ (miḍôoyaiphô) Breton: amiegez (br) f Bulgarian: акуше́рка (bg) f (akušérka), ба́ба (bg) f (bába) (rural) Burmese: လက်သည် (my) (laksany), ဝမ်းဆွဲ (my) (wam:hcwai:) Catalan: llevador (ca) m, llevadora (ca) f Central Melanau: bidan Chamicuro: kumali Chichewa: zamba Chinese: Cantonese: 接生婆 (zip3 saang1 po4-2), 執媽, 执妈 (zap1 maa1), 執仔婆, 执仔婆 (zap1 zai2 po4-2), 助產士, 助产士 (zo6 caan2 si6) Mandarin: 助產士／助产士 (zh) (zhùchǎnshì), 接生員／接生员 (jiēshēngyuán), 接生婆 (jiēshēngpó), 穩婆／稳婆 (zh) (wěnpó), 產婆／产婆 (zh) (chǎnpó) Min Nan: 助產士 (chō͘-sán-sū), 抾囝母 (khioh-kiáⁿ-bú), 產婆 (sán-pô) Czech: porodní bába (cs) f, porodní asistentka f, bába (cs) f (dated) Danish: jordemoder (da) c, jordemor c Dutch: verloskundige (nl) m or f, vroedvrouw (nl) f Esperanto: (male or female) akuŝisto (eo), (female) akuŝistino (eo) Estonian: ämmaemand (et) Faroese: ljósmóðir (fo) f, jarðarmóðir f, nærkona f Finnish: kätilö (fi) French: sage-femme (fr) f, sage-femme homme (fr) m, accoucheur (fr) m, accoucheuse (fr) f Galician: parteira f, partureira f Georgian: ბებიაქალი (ka) (bebiakali) German: Hebamme (de) f, Entbindungspfleger (de) m, Entbindungspflegerin (de) f, Geburtshelfer (de) m, Geburtshelferin (de) f, Entbindungshelfer m, Entbindungshelferin f Gilbertese: tia kabung Greek: μαία (el) f (maía), μαμή (el) f (mamí) Ancient: μαῖα f (maîa) Hebrew: מיילדת \\ מְיַלֶּדֶת‎ f (meyalédet) Hindi: प्रसाविका f (prasāvikā), जनाई (hi) f (janāī), दाई (hi) f (dāī), मिडवाइफ़ f (miḍvāif), धात्री (hi) f (dhātrī) Hungarian: bába (hu), szülésznő (hu) Icelandic: ljósmóðir (is) f, ljósa f, léttakona f, yfirsetukona f, nærkona f Indonesian: bidan (id) Irish: bean chabhrach f, bean ghlúine f, cnáimhseach f Old Irish: banterismid m Italian: ostetrica (it) f, levatrice (it) f Japanese: 助産婦 (ja) (じょさんぷ, josanpu), 産婆 (さんば, sanba), 助産師 (ja) (じょさんし, josanshi) Kazakh: акушер әйел (akuşer äiel) Khmer: ឆ្មប (km) (chmɑɑp), ម៉ប (km) (mɑɑp), យាយម៉ប (yiəy mɑɑp) Kikuyu: mũciarithia class 1 Korean: 조산부(助產婦) (josanbu), 산파(産婆) (sanpa), 조산사(助產師) (josansa) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: pîrik (ku) Kyrgyz: акушерка (ky) (akuşerka), аначы (ky) (anaçı) Lao: ນາງຜະດຸງຄັນ (nāng pha dung khan), ຕຳແຍ (tam nyǣ), ຫມໍຕຳແຍ (mǭ tam nyǣ) Latin: obstetrīx f Latvian: vecmāte f, akušiere f Lithuanian: akušerė f Luxembourgish: Hiewan f Macedonian: бабица f (babica), акуше́рка f (akušérka) Malay: bidan (ms), pengulin, dukun beranak Malayalam: വയറ്റാട്ടി (ml) (vayaṟṟāṭṭi) Maltese: qabla f Maori: kaiwhakawhanau, wahine whakawhanau Mongolian: Cyrillic: эх баригч (ex barigč) Navajo: awééʼ hayiidzį́sí, asdzání ʼiʼiiłchíhí, awééʼ hayiiníłí Neapolitan: mammana f, vammana f Ngarrindjeri: putari Norman: accouocheuse f, gardgienne f, sage-femme f Norwegian: Bokmål: jordmor (no) m or f Nynorsk: jordmor f Old English: beorþorþīnen f Papiamentu: partera Pashto: قابله‎ (ps) f (qābela) Persian: ماما‎ (fa) (mâmâ), پازاچ‎ (fa) (pâzâč), قابله‎ (fa) (qâbele), دایه‎ (fa) (dâye) Plautdietsch: Weemutta f, Popkjemutta f Polish: akuszer (pl) m, akuszerka (pl) f, położna (pl) f Portuguese: parteira (pt) f Romanian: moașă (ro) f Russian: акуше́р (ru) m (akušér) (male), акуше́рка (ru) f (akušérka) (female), повиту́ха (ru) f (povitúxa) (rural), повива́льная ба́бка (ru) f (poviválʹnaja bábka) (rural), ба́бка (ru) f (bábka) (rural, obsolete), повива́льщица f (poviválʹščica) (dated) Saanich: NIȽ ȻENT Ȼ SĆḴAḴS Sanskrit: साविका (sa) f (sāvikā), धात्री (sa) f (dhātrī) Scottish Gaelic: muime f, bean-ghlùine f Serbo-Croatian: primalja (sh) f Cyrillic: ба̏бица f Roman: bȁbica (sh) f Sicilian: lavatrici f Slovak: pôrodná baba f, pôrodná asistentka f, baba f (dated), babica f Slovene: babica (sl) f Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: babka f Spanish: partera (es) f, comadrona f, matrona (es) f Swedish: barnmorska (sv) c Tagalog: kumadrona Tajik: акушер (akušer), момо (momo), қобила (qobila), доя (doya), акушерка (tg) (akušerka) (only female) Telugu: మంత్రసాని (te) (mantrasāni) Thai: ตำแย (dtam-yɛɛ), หมอตำแย (mɔ̌ɔ dtam-yɛɛ) Turkish: ebe (tr) Turkmen: akuşerka (tk) Ukrainian: акуше́рка (uk) f (akušérka), повиту́ха f (povytúxa) (rural), сповиту́ха f (spovytúxa) (rural), повива́льна ба́бка f (povyválʹna bábka) (rural) Urdu: دائی‎ f (dāī), جنائی‎ f (janāī), قابله‎ m or f (qābila) Uzbek: akusherka (uz), doya (uz) Vietnamese: bà đỡ (vi), bà mụ (vi), bà đỡ đẻ, nữ hộ sinh (vi) Welsh: bydwraig f West Frisian: hoarnwiif n, ferloskundige c Westrobothnian: ljusmor f, nerkuno f Yiddish: הײַבאַם‎ f (haybam), אַקושערקע‎ f (akusherke), אַקושערין‎ f (akusherin)

person who assists in bringing something about

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Danish: fødselshjælper c Finnish: kätilö (fi) Norwegian: fødselshjelper m Spanish: please add this translation if you can

Verb

midwife (third-person singular simple present midwifes, present participle midwifing, simple past and past participle midwifed)

1. (transitive) To act as a midwife.
2. (transitive, figuratively) To facilitate the emergence of.
   • Thomas L. Friedman. "Attention: Baby on Board." New York Times. April 13, 2010.

     But the bigger objective was to help Iraqis midwife a democratic model that could inspire reform across the Arab-Muslim world and give the youth there a chance at a better future.

Usage notes

• The earliest forms of the verb used v in place of f (see to midwive); however, forms with f (to midwife) are now just as common if not more commonly seen.

Translations

to act as a midwife

Bulgarian: акуширам (bg) (akuširam) Chinese: Mandarin: 助產／助产 (zh) (zhùchǎn), 接生 (zh) (jiēshēng) Finnish: avustaa synnytyksessä, kätilöidä German: Hebamme (de) f Hebrew: יילד \\ יִלֵּד‎ m (yiléd) Hindi: dai Hungarian: bábáskodik (hu) Romanian: moși (ro) Russian: акуше́рствовать (ru) impf (akušérstvovatʹ) Spanish: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: đỡ đẻ

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Azerbaijani: (please verify) mama (az) Korean: (please verify) 산파 (sanpa) Mongolian: (please verify) эх баригч (ex barigč) Swahili: (please verify) mkunga (sw) Tagalog: (please verify) hilot Thai: (please verify) นางพยาบาลผดุงครรภ์ (naang pá-yaa-baan pà-doong kan) Welsh: (please verify) bydwraig

See also

• doula
• obstetrician
• obstetrics

References

1. Jespersen, Otto (1909) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎, volume I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 7.32, page 214.