obstetrix

English

Etymology

From Latin obstetrīx.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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Noun

obstetrix

1. (formal) A midwife.

References

• “obstetrix, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Latin

Alternative forms

• obstitrix

Etymology

From obstō (“to stand before”, verb) +‎ -trīx f (“-ess”, agentive suffix), or with the same elements.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɔp.stɛ.triːks], [ɔpˈstɛt.riːks]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɔb.ste.triks], [obˈstɛt.riks]
• The vowel in the second syllable is short -ĕ-, reduced from the short -ă- seen in stătus, stător, etc. Metrically, the second syllable can be light or heavy because of the following -tr- cluster.

Noun

obstetrīx f (genitive obstetrīcis); third declension

1. midwife
   • c. 200 BCE – 190 BCE, Plautus, Captivi 2.2.96–97, (trochaic septenarius):

     Qui tu scis? an tu fortasse fuisti meae matri obstetrix, / qui id tam audacter dicere audes?

     How do you know? Or were you perhaps my mother’s midwife, that you dare to say that so boldly?

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	obstetrīx	obstetrīcēs
genitive	obstetrīcis	obstetrīcum
dative	obstetrīcī	obstetrīcibus
accusative	obstetrīcem	obstetrīcēs
ablative	obstetrīce	obstetrīcibus
vocative	obstetrīx	obstetrīcēs

Derived terms

• (modern, medical) obstetricālis
• obstetrīcius
• (modern, medical) obstetricus

Descendants

• → English: obstetrix (learned)

Further reading

• “obstetrix”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “obstetrix”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers