Meanings
plural amniocenteses
- medicineA procedure for obtaining amniotic fluid from a pregnant animal, by inserting a hollow needle through the abdominal wall and into the amniotic sac. Used in diagnosing possible genetic defects and/or obstetric complications, or simply to drain excess amniotic fluid.
In most countries amniocentesis is now offered to – perhaps even imposed on – all older mothers, to check whether the foetus carries an extra chromosome.
1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 287
Synonyms & antonyms
noun(pregnancy) extraction by centesis of amniotic fluid from a pregnant woman (after the 15th week of pregnancy) to aid in the diagnosis of fetal abnormalities
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
By surface analysis, amnio- + -centesis.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan amniocentesi
- amniocentesiprocedure for obtaining amniotic fluid
Chinese Mandarin 羊膜穿刺術 /羊膜穿刺术
- 羊膜穿刺術 /羊膜穿刺术 (yángmóchuāncìshù)procedure for obtaining amniotic fluid
Dutch vruchtwaterpunctie
- vruchtwaterpunctieprocedure for obtaining amniotic fluid
Finnish lapsivesipisto
- lapsivesipistoprocedure for obtaining amniotic fluid
French amniocentèse
- amniocentèseprocedure for obtaining amniotic fluid
German Amniozentese, Fruchtwasseruntersuchung
- Amniozenteseprocedure for obtaining amniotic fluid
- Fruchtwasseruntersuchungprocedure for obtaining amniotic fluid
Greek αμνιοκέντηση
- αμνιοκέντηση (amniokéntisi)procedure for obtaining amniotic fluid
Indonesian amniosentesis
- amniosentesisprocedure for obtaining amniotic fluid
Polish amniopunkcja, amniocenteza
- amniopunkcjaprocedure for obtaining amniotic fluid
- amniocentezaprocedure for obtaining amniotic fluid
Portuguese amniocentese
- amniocenteseprocedure for obtaining amniotic fluid
Romanian amniocenteză
- amniocentezăprocedure for obtaining amniotic fluid
Spanish amniocentesis
- amniocentesisprocedure for obtaining amniotic fluid
Cite this entry
amniocentesis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amniocentesis
“amniocentesis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amniocentesis. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “amniocentesis,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amniocentesis.
Source: amniocentesis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.