midwife
a woman who helps during childbirth
TRANSLATION
midwife = Hebamme, Geburtshelferin --- GOOGLE INDEX 347,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Instead, he wound up being the MIDWIFE for the Soviet Union's demise.
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midwife
noun
- A person, usually a woman, who is trained to assist women in childbirth.
- One who assists in or takes a part in bringing about a result: "In the Renaissance, artists and writers start to serve as midwives of fame" (Carlin Romano).
transitive verb
mid·wifed, mid·wif·ing, mid·wifes or mid·wived or mid·wiv·ing or mid·wives
- To assist in the birth of (a baby).
- To assist in bringing forth or about: "Washington's efforts to midwife a Mideast settlement" (Newsweek).
The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy
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A midwife is usually a woman (although there is such a thing as a male midwife) who helps women in childbirth – especially one trained for this by schooling or experience.
Midwife is a very old word, dating back to at least the 14th century. As such it is built around old word meanings that have long since become obsolete. For instance in midwife the "wife" component doesn’t mean a married woman, but simply any woman. Starting in the 8th century "wife" (from the Old English wif) meant either just a woman, or else a woman of humble rank.
The "mid" part of midwife comes from a common Teutonic word found in various Old English dialects (as either "mid" or "mith") and used as either a preposition or an adjective meaning "with". So, literally, a midwife is a "with-woman" – that is, a woman who is "with" a mother while she is giving birth.
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO A CONVERSATION TODAY
say something like:
"The two parties are still a long way apart. I'll ask Bill to try to midwife an agreement."
noun
- A person, usually a woman, who is trained to assist women in childbirth.
- One who assists in or takes a part in bringing about a result: "In the Renaissance, artists and writers start to serve as midwives of fame" (Carlin Romano).
transitive verb
mid·wifed, mid·wif·ing, mid·wifes or mid·wived or mid·wiv·ing or mid·wives
- To assist in the birth of (a baby).
- To assist in bringing forth or about: "Washington's efforts to midwife a Mideast settlement" (Newsweek).
The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy
---
A midwife is usually a woman (although there is such a thing as a male midwife) who helps women in childbirth – especially one trained for this by schooling or experience.
Midwife is a very old word, dating back to at least the 14th century. As such it is built around old word meanings that have long since become obsolete. For instance in midwife the "wife" component doesn’t mean a married woman, but simply any woman. Starting in the 8th century "wife" (from the Old English wif) meant either just a woman, or else a woman of humble rank.
The "mid" part of midwife comes from a common Teutonic word found in various Old English dialects (as either "mid" or "mith") and used as either a preposition or an adjective meaning "with". So, literally, a midwife is a "with-woman" – that is, a woman who is "with" a mother while she is giving birth.
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO A CONVERSATION TODAY
say something like:
"The two parties are still a long way apart. I'll ask Bill to try to midwife an agreement."
