neonate

/ˌniəˈneɪt/

Other forms: neonates

A neonate is a newborn baby. New parents are usually excited and a little nervous to bring their neonate home from the hospital.

Use the noun neonate when you need a medical term for a tiny baby, specifically one that's younger than a month old. Hospitals have neonate units and neonate nurses, and what a doctor might refer to as a neonate, you'd probably just call an infant or a baby. Neonate combines the Greek prefix neo, or "new," and the Latin natus, "born."

Definitions of neonate

1. noun

   a baby from birth to four weeks
   synonyms: newborn, newborn baby, newborn infant

   types:

   liveborn infant

   infant who shows signs of life after birth

   low-birth-weight baby, low-birth-weight infant

   an infant born weighing less than 5.5 pounds (2500 grams) regardless of gestational age

   postmature infant

   infant born after 42 weeks of gestation; usually shows signs of placental insufficiency

   preemie, premature baby, premature infant, premie, preterm baby, preterm infant

   an infant that is born prior to 37 weeks of gestation

   SGA infant, small-for-gestational-age infant

   an infant whose size and weight are considerably less than the average for babies of the same age

   stillborn infant

   infant who shows no signs of life after birth

   term infant

   infant born at a gestational age between 37 and 42 completed weeks

   type of:

   babe, baby, infant

   a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk