Where does “obstetrician” come from?
Obstetrician comes from Latin obstetrix, meaning midwife, derived from obstetricius, which combines the root of stō (to stand) with the feminine suffix -trix, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European steh₂-.
obstetrician (English): A physician who specializes in childbirth
Definitions
- A physician who specializes in childbirth
Ancestry of “obstetrician”, step by step
obstetrician traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English obstetrics
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | obstetrics | The care of women during and after pregnancy |
| 2 | English | obstetric | Of or relating to obstetrics |
| 3 | French | obstétrique | obstetric, obstetrical |
| 4 | Latin | obstetricus | — |
| 5 | Latin | obstetrix | midwife |
| 6 | Latin | obstō | to stand before, stand in the way of, obstruct, block, oppose |
| 7 | Latin | ob- | towards; against |
| 8 | Latin | obolus | obolus (Greek coin) |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | ὀβολός | obol, obolus, used at Athens as both a weight and... |
| 10 | Ancient Greek | ὀβελός | a spit, rod; a horizontal line |
| 11 | Ancient Greek | βέλος | missile, arrow, dart; weapon; something quickly... |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷélHos | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷelH- | to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing |