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Midwife vs Obstetricate - What's the difference?

midwife | obstetricate |

As verbs the difference between midwife and obstetricate

is that midwife is to act as a midwife while obstetricate is (obsolete) to assist as a midwife.

As a noun midwife

is a person, usually a woman, who is trained to assist women in childbirth, but who is not a physician.

midwife

English

Noun

(midwives)
  • A person, usually a woman, who is trained to assist women in childbirth, but who is not a physician.
    • A hundred years ago, a midwife would bring the baby into the world - going to a hospital to deliver a baby was either impossible or unheard of.
  • (rare, figuratively) Someone who assists in bringing about some result or project.

    • Synonyms

    * accoucheuse

    Coordinate terms

    * accoucheur * (male) midwife * man-midwife

    Derived terms

    * midwife toad * midwifery

    Related terms

    * midhusband

    Verb

  • To act as a midwife
  • (figuratively) to facilitate the emergence of
    • But the bigger objective was to help Iraqis midwife a democratic model that could inspire reform across the Arab-Muslim world and give the youth there a chance at a better future.
  • :: Thomas L. Friedman. "Attention: Baby on Board." New York Times . April 13, 2010.

    • Usage notes

    While elementary students are taught "replace 'f' with 'v'," the mistake resulting in "midwifed" is made often enough in informal/colloquial language to indicate the rule is not consistently followed.

    See also

    * doula * obstetrician * obstetrics English nouns with irregular plurals English transitive verbs

    obstetricate

    English

    Verb

    (obstetricat)
  • (obsolete) To assist as a midwife.
  • * Evelyn
    • Nature does obstetricate .
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