neonatal
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does neonatal mean? Neonatal is an adjective used to describe things related to newborn babies and their care. Neonatal is a technical term used in the context of medicine and healthcare. You’re most likely to see it used in terms like neonatal unit, neonatal care, and neonatal nurse, and in the names of certain medical conditions that affect newborns. Its noun form, neonate, is another word for a newborn. Example: My sister is a neonatal nurse who specializes in caring for newborns with certain health problems.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of neonatal
Explanation
Neonatal describes the first month of a person's life. The neonatal period is that first month after a baby is born. There are also neonatal disorders that require neonatal care. Like many babies, the word neonatal's parents are from different places — neo comes from Greek and means “new,” and natal comes from the Latin word natus which means “to be born.” Neonatal means newborn. The neonatal stage is the first month of life, when a baby is tiniest and most fragile. Babies born at a hospital who can’t come home right away sometimes stay in a neonatal intensive care unit, where neonatal nurses care for them.
Vocabulary lists containing neonatal
Brand Spankin' New: Words with Neo- and Nov-
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Frankenwords: Words with Roots from Different Languages
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The Last Lecture
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They have also highlighted the health fallout, including an increase in cases of cancer and foetal and neonatal malformations.
From Barron's • May 23, 2026
Lives were saved and the pit-crew model was widely adopted for pediatric surgery and neonatal resuscitation around the world.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
Dr Muhammad Mosa Oldat, who runs the neonatal unit, says the mortality rate climbs as high as 10%, which is "not acceptable".
From BBC • May 18, 2026
Compared to pregnancies in adulthood, adolescent pregnancies have been associated with higher rates of low birth weight, preterm birth, and early neonatal mortality among infants.
From Salon • Apr. 18, 2026
It has been a difficult month: a rotation in neonatal intensive care.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
