Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

puerperium

/ˌpju.ɚˈpɪɹ.i.əm/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.23 in modern English

Syllables: puer-peri-um
IPA: /ˌpju.ɚˈpɪɹ.i.əm/

16

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

3

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The period of time lasting around a month immediately following childbirth, when the mother’s uterus shrinks back to its prepartum state.

Example Sentences

"As exciting causes, psychic traumata, exposure to cold, the puerperium, excesses, have been brought forward."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin puerperium (“childbed, childbirth”), from puerpera (“woman in labor or childbed”) + -ium (nominal suffix), from puerperus (“parturient, bringing forth children”), from puer (“child, boy”) + pariō (“to bring forth, bear”) + -us (adjectival suffix).

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: *peh₂w-, puerperium

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌpju.ɚˈpɪɹ.i.əm/
British English: /ˌpju.əˈpɪə.ɹi.əm/

Inflected Forms

puerperia (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

antepartum parous postpartum puerpera puerperal

Rhymes With

miriam bacterium delirium imperium deuterium mycobacterium magisterium cerium criterium corynebacterium cyanobacterium psalterium

Questions

How do you pronounce puerperium?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌpju.ɚˈpɪɹ.i.əm/.
What does puerperium mean?: The period of time lasting around a month immediately following childbirth, when the mother’s uterus shrinks back to its prepartum state.
Where does puerperium come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce puerperium

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “puerperium”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌpju.ɚˈpɪɹ.i.əm/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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