Standard Lemma guide

postnatal

adj · 3 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: /poʊstˈneɪtəl/
  • UK: /pəʊstˈneɪtəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P OW2 S T N EY1 T AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

After being born, of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth (of a baby).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • postnatal development
  • postnatal treatment

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of a mother, after giving birth.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, proscribed

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

occurring immediately after birth

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • postnatal development

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: postpartum

Antonyms: prenatal, perinatal

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pós Proto-Indo-European *-ti Proto-Indo-European *pósti Proto-Italic *posti Old Latin poste Latin post English post- 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 postnatal From post- + natal. First use appears c. 1831.

Across languages

Translations

20 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: следродов (sledrodov) — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Catalan: postpart — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Chinese Cantonese: 產後 /产后 (caan2 hau6) — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Chinese: 產後 /产后 (sán-āu) — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Chinese Mandarin: 產後 /产后 (chǎnhòu) — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Czech: poporodní — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Czech: postnatální — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Estonian: sünnijärgne — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • French: postnatal — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • French: post-natal — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • German: postnatal — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • German: postpartal — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Italian: postnatale — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Northern Kurdish: paşzayînê — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Polish: poporodowy — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Polish: połogowy — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Polish: postnatalny — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Portuguese: pós-natal — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Russian: послеродово́й (poslerodovój) — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth
  • Spanish: postnatal — of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth