maternity C2+ Topic:Family & Relationships US /məˈtɜrnɪti/ UK /məˈtɜːnɪti/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun the state of being a mother; motherhood She took several months of maternity leave. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the state of being a... motherhoodmotherlinessparenthood ↔ Opposites paternity Word family Related forms maternalmothermatronmaternally Common collocations maternity leave Adjective + noun Etymology AI details From French maternité, from Medieval Latin māternitās, from Latin māternus ('motherly'), from māter ('mother'). The state of being a mother. māternus Latin māter Latin *méh₂tēr Proto-Indo-European View etymology graph -> Topics Family & Relationships Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # maternity **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /məˈtɜrnɪti/ **IPA (UK):** /məˈtɜːnɪti/ ## Meanings 1. the state of being a mother; motherhood ## Examples - She took several months of maternity leave. ## Synonyms - motherhood - motherliness - parenthood ## Antonyms - paternity ## Related Forms - maternal - mother - matron - maternally ## Roots and Affixes - Root: māternus - Root: māter - Root: *méh₂tēr ## Etymology From French maternité, from Medieval Latin māternitās, from Latin māternus ('motherly'), from māter ('mother'). The state of being a mother. ## AI Etymology Maternity comes from French maternité, from Medieval Latin māternitās, from Latin māternus ('motherly'), from māter ('mother'). The state of being a mother. The etymological trail includes Latin māternus, Latin māter, and Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr. As a noun, maternity means the state of being a mother; motherhood. The same family is visible in related forms such as maternal, mother, matron, and maternally. ## Topics - Family & Relationships - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown