maternity

English

Etymology

From French maternité, from Latin māternitās.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məˈtɜː(ɹ)nɪti/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

maternity (countable and uncountable, plural maternities)

1. The state of being a mother; motherhood.
2. The state of being pregnant; pregnancy.
3. A ward or department in a hospital in which babies are born.

   She's working in maternity this month.

Synonyms

• (ward): maternity ward

Antonyms

• paternity (with respect to gender)

Derived terms

• co-maternity
• grandmaternity
• maternity bra
• maternity dress
• maternity hospital
• maternity jeans
• maternity leave
• maternity pillow
• maternity test
• maternitywear
• maternity wear
• nonmaternity
• prematernity

Translations

state of being a mother; motherhood

Bulgarian: майчинство (bg) n (majčinstvo) Crimean Tatar: analıq Dutch: materniteit (nl) f, moederschap (nl) n Esperanto: patrineco Finnish: äitiys (fi) Greek: μητρότητα (el) f (mitrótita) Norman: matèrnité f Polish: macierzyństwo (pl) n Russian: материнство (ru) n (materinstvo)

state of being pregnant; pregnancy

Bulgarian: бременност (bg) f (bremennost) Finnish: raskaus (fi) Greek: εγκυμοσύνη (el) f (egkymosýni) Norman: matèrnité f Polish: ciąża (pl) f Russian: беременность (ru) f (beremennostʹ)

ward or department in a hospital in which babies are born

Bulgarian: натология f (natologija) Czech: porodnické oddělení n Finnish: synnytysosasto (fi), synnytyssairaala (fi) Greek: μαιευτήριο (el) n (maieftírio) Malay: korban laki-laki Polish: porodówka (pl) f