midwife
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
midwife
- /ˈmɪd.waɪf/
- /ˈmɪd.(w)ɪf/ obsolete
Where it comes from
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).
noun midwives · midwive
- 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.
- Someone who assists in bringing about some result or project. He had not read it, but he said that every detail in it was true. This struck me as a rather cavalier attitude to truth, but hatred is not the midwife of caution or accuracy.
Similar: accoucheuse
verb midwifes · midwifing · midwifed · midwive
- To act as a midwife.
- To facilitate the emergence of. 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.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: accoucheuse, midwifery, birth, accoucheur, obstetrician, obstetrician-gynecologist, gynecologist, nurse-midwife, doula, handywoman, laborist, man-midwife, monitrice, labourist, deliverywoman, nursery nurse
noun
Similar: accoucheuse
Translations
Every language
noun person who assists in bringing something about
| 中文 | 促成者 cùchéng zhě |
|---|
noun person who assists women in childbirth
| Español | partera, comadrona, matrona |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 조산부 josanbu, 산파 sanpa, 조산사 josansa |
| 日本語 | 助産婦 josanpu, 産婆 sanba, 助産師 josanshi |
| 中文 | 助產士 /助产士 zhùchǎnshì, 接生員 /接生员 jiēshēngyuán, 接生婆 jiēshēngpó, 穩婆 /稳婆 wěnpó, 產婆 /产婆 chǎnpó |
| हिन्दी | प्रसाविका prasāvikā, जनाई janāī, दाई dāī, मिडवाइफ़ miḍvāif, धात्री dhātrī |
| Kiswahili | mkunga |
| Português | parteira |
| Français | sage-femme, sage-femme homme, accoucheur, accoucheuse, maïeuticien |
| Deutsch | Hebamme, Entbindungspfleger, Entbindungspflegerin, Geburtshelfer, Geburtshelferin, Entbindungshelfer |
| Italiano | ostetrica, levatrice |
| Ελληνικά | μαία maía, μαμή mamí |
| Română | moașă |
| Русский | акуше́р akušér, акуше́рка akušérka, повиту́ха povitúxa, повива́льная ба́бка poviválʹnaja bábka, ба́бка bábka, повива́льщица poviválʹščica |
| Tiếng Việt | bà đỡ, bà mụ, bà đỡ đẻ, nữ hộ sinh |
| العربية | قَابِلَة qābila, دَايَة dāya |
| עברית | מיילדת \ מְיַלֶּדֶת meyalédet |
verb to act as a midwife
| 中文 | 助產 /助产 zhùchǎn, 接生 jiēshēng |
|---|---|
| Română | moși |
| Русский | акуше́рствовать akušérstvovatʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | đỡ đẻ |
| עברית | יילד \ יִלֵּד yiléd |
Talk about this word "midwife." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/midwife. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. midwife. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/midwife "midwife." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/midwife.Cite this
@misc{midwife_2026,
title = {midwife},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/midwife},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
