maternity

/məˈtʌrnədi/

/məˈtʌnɪti/

Other forms: maternities

Use the noun maternity to describe the relationship of a mother to her children.

The state of maternity includes everything involved in becoming a mother, from being pregnant to giving birth to chasing a little kid around a playground. Adoptive mothers experience maternity too, since they are someone's mom. The word maternity comes from the Latin root mater, which means "mother," and it's related to the adjective maternal. You can mostly use the words maternity and motherhood interchangeably.

Definitions of maternity

1. noun

   the kinship relation between an offspring and the mother
   synonyms: motherhood

   type of:

   family relationship, kinship, relationship

   (anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption
2. noun

   the quality of having or showing the tenderness and warmth and affection of or befitting a mother
   synonyms: maternal quality, maternalism, motherliness

   type of:

   parental quality

   a quality appropriate to a parent
3. noun

   the state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth when a woman carries a developing fetus in her uterus
   synonyms: gestation, pregnancy

   types:

   trouble

   an unwanted pregnancy

   gravidation, gravidity, gravidness

   technical terms for pregnancy

   gravida

   the number of the pregnancy that a woman is in

   para, parity

   (obstetrics) the number of liveborn children a woman has delivered

   eccyesis, ectopic gestation, ectopic pregnancy, extrauterine gestation, extrauterine pregnancy, metacyesis

   pregnancy resulting from gestation elsewhere than in the uterus

   entopic pregnancy

   pregnancy resulting from normal gestation in the uterus

   placenta previa

   pregnancy in which the placenta is implanted in the lower part of the uterus (instead of the upper part); can cause bleeding late in pregnancy; delivery by cesarean section may be necessary

   abdominal pregnancy

   ectopic pregnancy in the abdominal cavity

   ovarian pregnancy

   ectopic pregnancy in the ovary

   tubal pregnancy

   ectopic pregnancy in a Fallopian tube

   type of:

   physical condition, physiological condition, physiological state

   the condition or state of the body or bodily functions