womb
[woom]
- the uterus of the human female and certain higher mammals.
- the place in which anything is formed or produced: the womb of time.
- the interior of anything.
- Obsolete. the belly.
Origin of womb
before 900; Middle English, Old English: belly, womb; cognate with Dutch wam, German Wamme, Gothic wamba belly; cf. wamus
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for womb
Contemporary Examples
At present, not every woman is young enough, fertile enough, or healthy enough to have a baby using her own eggs or her own womb.
The womb may become artificial by the end of the century but it will still be the battleground for feminist politics.
But when the womb—the most politicized body part in history—is separated from the woman, what will it mean for feminism?
And the Latin mātrīx for “womb” comes from the same Indo-European root that gives us the English “mother.”
In New York City, affluent parents sign up for pre-school while their child is still in the womb.
Historical Examples
For a child is born into the womb of the time, which indeed enclosed and fed him before he was born.
A Dish Of OrtsGeorge MacDonald
Her the men of old called Nemesis, born to Ocean from the womb of silent Night.
Albert DurerT. Sturge Moore
Political economy was still sleeping in the womb of futurity.
BunyanJames Anthony Froude
The mother's body is becoming adapted to the development of the infant in the womb.
The Sexual QuestionAugust Forel
The passage is forced by the powerful contractions of the muscles of the womb.
The Sexual QuestionAugust Forel
womb
- the nontechnical name for uterus Related adjective: uterine
- a hollow space enclosing something, esp when dark, warm, or sheltering
- a place where something is conceivedthe Near East is the womb of western civilization
- obsolete the belly
Word Origin
Old English wamb; related to Old Norse vomb, Gothic wamba, Middle Low German wamme, Swedish våmm
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for womb
n.
Old English wamb, womb "belly, uterus," from Proto-Germanic *wambo (cf. Old Norse vomb, Old Frisian wambe, Middle Dutch wamme, Dutch wam, Old High German wamba, German Wamme "belly, paunch," Gothic wamba "belly, womb," Old English umbor "child"), of unknown origin.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
womb
(wōōm)
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
womb
[wōōm]
- See uterus.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.