midwife

1 of 2

noun

mid·​wife ˈmid-ˌwīf 

1

: a person who assists women in childbirth compare nurse-midwife

2

: one that helps to produce or bring forth something

midwife

2 of 2

verb

midwifed ˈmid-ˌwīft  or midwived ˈmid-ˌwīvd  ; midwifing ˈmid-ˌwī-fiŋ  or midwiving ˈmid-ˌwī-viŋ 

transitive verb

: to assist in producing, bringing forth, or bringing about

Examples of midwife in a Sentence

Noun

a trained and certified midwife

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Sign up While midwives and doulas have overlapping duties, there is a critical difference between them. —Theara Coleman, theweek, 3 Apr. 2024

Part three opens with a flashback to Annie K. working as a midwife at the area’s last birthing center. —Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 28 Jan. 2024

Verb

Other execs who midwifed Saturday Night Live (according to the oral history Live From New York) include manager Bernie Brillstein, former NBC president Fred Silverman, and former NBC chairman and Mary Tyler Moore husband Grant Tinker. —Bethy Squires, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2024

India’s private sector still bears the stigma of having been midwifed under the license raj, an era in which corruption was pervasive. —Arvind Subramanian, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English midwif, from mid with (from Old English) + wif woman

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1638, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing midwife

• nurse-midwife

Kids Definition

midwife

noun

mid·​wife

ˈmid-ˌwīf

: a woman who helps other women in childbirth

Medical Definition

midwife

noun

mid·​wife ˈmid-ˌwīf 

: a person who assists women in childbirth see nurse-midwife