Standard Lemma guide

neonatal

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: N IY2 OW0 N EY1 T AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or pertaining to the period of time immediately following birth, or to the newborn.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • The baby was placed in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective

Meaning 2

relating to or affecting the infant during the first month after birth

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • neonatal care
  • the neonatal period

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *nu Proto-Indo-European *néwos Proto-Hellenic *néwos Ancient Greek νέος (néos) Ancient Greek νεο- (neo-)der. English neo- Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh1- Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h1tós Proto-Italic *gnātos Latin gnātus Latin nātus Proto-Indo-European *h2el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin nātālisbor. Middle English natal English natal English neonatal From neo- + natal.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: неоната́лен (neonatálen) — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • Catalan: neonatal — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • Finnish: neonataalinen — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • French: néonatal — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • Hungarian: neonatális — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • Indonesian: neonatal — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • Italian: neonatale — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • Northern Kurdish: nûza — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • Māori: piripoho hou — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • Polish: neonatalny — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • Portuguese: neonatal — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • Romanian: de noi născuți — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • Romanian: neonatal — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • Spanish: neonatal — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • Swedish: neonatal — of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth