Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

couvade

/kuːˈvɑːd/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 1.31 in modern English

Syllables
cou-vade
IPA
/kuːˈvɑːd/
13
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A practice among some peoples, such as the Basques, of the husband of a woman in the last stages of pregnancy taking to bed, avoiding certain foods, or imitating other behaviours of a pregnant woman.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Sympathetic pregnancy: the involuntary sympathetic experience of the husband of symptoms of his wife's pregnancy, such as weight gain or morning sickness.

Countable; Uncountable

Etymology

From French couvade (“brooding”).

Usage

Inflected Forms

couvades (plural)

Questions

How do you pronounce couvade?
The recorded pronunciation is /kuːˈvɑːd/.
What does couvade mean?
A practice among some peoples, such as the Basques, of the husband of a woman in the last stages of pregnancy taking to bed, avoiding certain foods, or imitating other behaviours of a pregnant woman.
Where does couvade come from?
From French couvade (“brooding”).

How to pronounce couvade

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “couvade”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/kuːˈvɑːd/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “couvade”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “couvade” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.