childbirthn.
/ˈtʃʌɪl(d)bəːθ/, U.S. /ˈtʃaɪl(d)ˌbərθ/ The process of giving birth to a child; parturition. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [noun] > childbirth or delivery
teamOE
childinga1275
birtha1325
childc1330
deliverancea1375
childbearinga1400
kindlinga1400
birth-bearingc1426
forthbringing1429
childbirth?a1450
parturitya1450
bearinga1500
delivery1548
parture1588
infantment1597
puerpery1602
exclusion1646
parturition1646
venter1657
outbirth1691
clecking1815
parturience1822
birthing1928
natural childbirth1933
?a1450 tr. Macer Herbal (Stockh.) (1949) 79 (MED) Þis herbe..purgiþ..childbyrth from alle corrupcon.
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Matrimonie f. xvi* This prayer folowing shal be omitted where the woman is past childe byrth.
1606 Returne from Pernassus ii. vi. sig. D3v I am so great in child-birth with this iest.
1606 P. Holland tr. Suetonius Hist. Twelve Caesars 242 An olde Oke..which at 3 childbirths of Vespasia sodainly did put forth every time a several bough.
1614 J. Selden Titles of Honor ii. i. 176 When the Queen is in child-birth,..warily obserue least the Ladies should priuily counterfeit the enheritable sex, by supposing som other Male when the true birth is female.
1656 in W. Cramond Extracts Rec. Synod of Moray (1906) 121 That presbyteries be cairfull to remove superstitione..in kirking of women after child-birth.
1721 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. Biggenning, the Up-rising of Women after Child-Birth. Country Word.
1779 S. Johnson Milton in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets II. 61 She died..of childbirth, or some distemper that followed it.
1819 J. H. Payne Brutus v. iii To strike their country in the mother-pangs Of struggling child-birth.
1831 T. Cooper tr. F. Broussais On Irritation & Insanity ii. i. 185 The insanity so often supervenient upon child-birth, does not arise from one organ only.
1876 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People vii. §1 Jane Seymour died next year in child-birth.
1922 S. Anderson Winesburg Ohio 67 His wife Katherine was expecting at any moment to be laid abed of childbirth.
1960 W. Harris Palace of Peacock vii. 81 Their mother had died a couple of months ago in her last childbirth.
1988 A. Lattas in T. G. Ashplant et al. Commemorating War (2004) ii. iv. 131 They knew Exodus and Exile, condemnation and chains, desert wanderings and struggle, inequality and injustice, the crucible of tragedy and suffering, the childbirth of a new people.
2003 Daily Tel. 17 Dec. i. 16/1 In China it [sc. chicken soup] is given as a restorative to women after childbirth.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.?a1450