womb

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English

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Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English wombe, wambe, from Old English womb, wamb (belly, stomach; bowels; heart; womb; hollow), from Proto-West Germanic *wambu, from Proto-Germanic *wambō (belly, stomach, abdomen).[1] Cognate with Scots wam, wame (womb), Dutch wam (dewlap of beef; belly of a fish), German Wamme, Wampe (paunch, belly), Danish vom (belly, paunch, rumen), Swedish våmb (belly, stomach, rumen), Norwegian vom (rumen), Icelandic vömb (belly, abdomen, stomach), Old Welsh gumbelauc (womb), Breton gwamm (woman, wife), Sanskrit वपा (vapā́, the skin or membrane lining the intestines or parts of the viscera, the caul or omentum). Superseded non-native Middle English mater, matere (womb) and matris, matrice (womb) borrowed from Latin māter (womb) and Old French matrice (womb), respectively.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /wuːm/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -uːm

Noun

womb (plural wombs)

  1. (anatomy) In female mammals, the organ in which the young are conceived and grow until birth; the uterus.
    • 1971, Marc Bolan (lyrics and music), “Cosmic Dancer”, in Electric Warrior, performed by T. Rex:
      I danced myself right out the womb / Is it strange to dance so soon?
  2. (obsolete) The abdomen or stomach.
  3. (obsolete) The stomach of a person or creature.
  4. (figuratively) A place where something is made or formed.
  5. Any cavity containing and enveloping anything.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

womb (third-person singular simple present wombs, present participle wombing, simple past and past participle wombed)

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To enclose in a womb, or as if in a womb; to breed or hold in secret.

References

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “womb”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Middle English

Noun

womb

  1. Alternative form of wombe

Old English

Noun

womb f

  1. Alternative form of wamb