Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “midwifery” come from?

Midwifery comes from Middle English -erie, Anglo-Norman -erie, Latin -arius, and Proto-Indo-European -yós, a suffix forming agent nouns that became productive in Romance languages for occupational terms.

midwifery (English): The practice and science of being a midwife

Definitions

  1. The practice and science of being a midwife

Ancestry of “midwifery”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmidwifeA person, usually a woman, who is trained to...
2English-eryAdded to nouns to form other nouns meaning the...
3French-eriedenoting a shop selling a certain product;...
4Old French-erieused to form feminine nouns
5Old French-ieindicates a feminine noun, often an abstract one
6Latin-iaUsed to form a feminine abstract noun, usually...
7Latin-iusforming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter...
8Proto-Italic-jōsForms comparative adjectives
9Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →