childbirth
/ˈt͡ʃaɪldˌbɝθ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.42 in modern English
21
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The fact or action of giving birth to a child, as the culmination of pregnancy; the process by which it happens.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonyms: labour, delivery (the moment of emergence)"
- "The preference for tightness during intercourse is so well known in Western culture that U.S. obstetricians even have a term for the extra stitch they often perform when doing episiotomy repairs following childbirth: the "husband's stitch." The husband's stitch is intended to produce a smaller vaginal opening, to counteract the natural stretching of the tissues from sexual activity and childbirth and even to make the opening more constricted than it might have been before."
Etymology
From Middle English childbyrth [and other forms], perhaps a partial calque of Old Norse barnburðr (“childbearing, childbirth”, literally “bairn birth”); equivalent to child + birth. Compare Swedish barnsbörd (“childbirth”), Icelandic barnsburður (“childbirth”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: childbyrth, barnburðr
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈt͡ʃaɪldˌbɝθ/