MATERNITY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does maternity mean? 

• MATERNITY (noun)
  The noun MATERNITY has 3 senses:

1. the state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth when a woman carries a developing fetus in her uterus

2. the kinship relation between an offspring and the mother

3. the quality of having or showing the tenderness and warmth and affection of or befitting a mother

  Familiarity information: MATERNITY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MATERNITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth when a woman carries a developing fetus in her uterus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

gestation; maternity; pregnancy

Hypernyms ("maternity" is a kind of...):

physical condition; physiological condition; physiological state (the condition or state of the body or bodily functions)

Meronyms (parts of "maternity"):

cleavage; segmentation ((embryology) the repeated division of a fertilised ovum)

quickening (the stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus)

childbed; confinement; labor; labour; lying-in; parturiency; travail (concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child)

morning sickness (nausea early in the day; a characteristic symptom in the early months of pregnancy)

Domain member category:

endometrium ((pregnancy) the mucous membrane that lines the uterus; thickens under hormonal control and (if pregnancy does not occur) is shed in menstruation; if pregnancy occurs it is shed along with the placenta at parturition)

stretch mark (a narrow band resulting from tension on the skin (as on abdominal skin after pregnancy))

amnio; amniocentesis ((pregnancy) extraction by centesis of amniotic fluid from a pregnant woman (after the 15th week of pregnancy) to aid in the diagnosis of fetal abnormalities)

fetal movement; foetal movement (motion of a fetus within the uterus (usually detected by the 16th week of pregnancy))

phlebothrombosis; venous thrombosis (thrombosis of a vein without prior inflammation of the vein; associated with sluggish blood flow (as in prolonged bedrest or pregnancy or surgery) or with rapid coagulation of the blood)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "maternity"):

trouble (an unwanted pregnancy)

gravidation; gravidity; gravidness (technical terms for pregnancy)

gravida (the number of the pregnancy that a woman is in)

para; parity ((obstetrics) the number of liveborn children a woman has delivered)

eccyesis; ectopic gestation; ectopic pregnancy; extrauterine gestation; extrauterine pregnancy; metacyesis (pregnancy resulting from gestation elsewhere than in the uterus)

entopic pregnancy (pregnancy resulting from normal gestation in the uterus)

placenta previa (pregnancy in which the placenta is implanted in the lower part of the uterus (instead of the upper part); can cause bleeding late in pregnancy; delivery by cesarean section may be necessary)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The kinship relation between an offspring and the mother

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Synonyms:

maternity; motherhood

Hypernyms ("maternity" is a kind of...):

family relationship; kinship; relationship ((anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The quality of having or showing the tenderness and warmth and affection of or befitting a mother

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

maternal quality; maternalism; maternity; motherliness

Context example:

the girl's motherliness made her invaluable in caring for the children

Hypernyms ("maternity" is a kind of...):

parental quality (a quality appropriate to a parent)

Attribute:

maternal (characteristic of a mother)

Derivation:

maternal (characteristic of a mother)