midwife

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A trained person who helps women during pregnancy and childbirth.

   The midwife stayed with her throughout the long delivery.

2. 2
   noun

   A person who helps bring about a new result or development.

   She is often called the midwife of the country's democratic reforms.

Simplified etymology

Midwife originally meant “a woman who is with the mother.” Its mid- is an old word meaning “with,” related to Greek meta, while wife here preserves the older sense “woman” rather than specifically “married woman.”

From Middle English midwif, corresponding to mid (“with”) + wif (“woman, wife, female”). It appears not to be entirely clear whether the original understanding was “with-woman” in the sense of “attending/assisting woman”, or “they who are with the woman” (namely the mother).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary