Uterine

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈjutəɹaɪn/

Definitions

1. Relating to or affecting the womb, the organ in female mammals where offspring develop before birth
2. Pertaining to or associated with the uterus, which is the reproductive organ in female mammals that supports fetal development during pregnancy
3. Connected to the womb, the organ in female mammals responsible for harboring a developing fetus prior to childbirth

Etymology: The adjective "uterine" carries a second, older sense that has nothing to do with anatomy: "born of the same mother." Latin "uterinus" meant both "of the womb" and "having the same mother," and the second sense was the one that mattered in inheritance and family law. A "uterine brother" was a half-brother sharing a mother but not a father, a distinction that still appears in older legal and genealogical writing. The word reached English through Middle French "utérin," which itself came from Latin "uterinus," built on "uterus," the Latin word for "womb." The Latin noun is the root of the modern English "uterus," which entered the language as a direct borrowing of the same Latin noun. The English adjective therefore grew out of the same anatomical stem, with the Latin suffix "-inus" giving the sense "pertaining to."

Synonyms: womb-related, maternal, reproductive, female, gestational