Standard Lemma guide

puerperium

noun · 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

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  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌpju.əˈpɪə.ɹi.əm/
  • General-American: /ˌpju.ɚˈpɪɹ.i.əm/
  • rhymes with -ɪəɹiəm

1

noun

Meaning 1

The period of time lasting around a month immediately following childbirth, when the mother’s uterus shrinks back to its prepartum state.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, obstetrics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

time period following childbirth when the mother's uterus shrinks and the other functional and anatomic changes of pregnancy are resolved

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a perinatologist cared for her during the puerperium

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: time period, period of time, period

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin puerperium (“childbed, childbirth”), from puerpera (“woman in labor or childbed”) + -ium (nominal suffix), from puerperus (“parturient, bringing forth children”), from puer (“child, boy”) + pariō (“to bring forth, bear”) + -us (adjectival suffix).

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: اَلنِّفَاس (an-nifās) — period of time following childbirth
  • Chinese Mandarin: 產褥期 /产褥期 (chǎnrùqī) — period of time following childbirth
  • Czech: šestinedělí — period of time following childbirth
  • Dutch: kraambed — period of time following childbirth
  • Finnish: lapsivuodeaika — period of time following childbirth
  • German: Wochenbett — period of time following childbirth
  • Hungarian: gyermekágy — period of time following childbirth
  • Icelandic: sængurlega — period of time following childbirth
  • Macedonian: леунство (leunstvo) — period of time following childbirth
  • Polish: połóg — period of time following childbirth
  • Portuguese: puerpério — period of time following childbirth
  • Spanish: puerperio — period of time following childbirth
  • Tày: dú bươn — period of time following childbirth
  • Tày: bươn coòng — period of time following childbirth
  • Turkish: loğusalık — period of time following childbirth