Meanings
plural intrauterine devices
- A contraceptive device consisting of a spiral or similar shape of plastic or metal inserted through the vagina into the uterus in order to prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg.
Types of progestagen-only contraceptives available in the UK and US include the implant, the hormonal intrauterine device (IUD), the contraceptive injection and the minipill.
2023 March 21, Jessie Gretener, “Progestagen-only contraceptives carry similar, small breast cancer risk as other hormone contraceptives, study finds”, in CNN1 more example
The latest research, published Wednesday in the medical journal JAMA, analyzed years of health records for thousands of Danish women ages 15 to 49, with an even split between those who started using intrauterine devices that release the hormone levonorgestrel for birth control and those who hadn’t used any type of hormonal contraceptive.
2024 October 17, Deidre McPhillips, “Some IUDs linked to higher rates of breast cancer, but overall risk remains low”, in CNN
Synonyms & antonyms
nouncontraceptive device consisting of a piece of bent plastic or metal that is inserted through the vagina into the uterus
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Bulgarian спира́ла
- спира́ла (spirála)contraceptive device
Catalan dispositiu intrauterí, esterilet
- dispositiu intrauterícontraceptive device
- esteriletcontraceptive device
Chinese Mandarin 宮內避孕器 /宫内避孕器, 子宮環 /子宫环
- 宮內避孕器 /宫内避孕器 (gōngnèi bìyùnqì)contraceptive device
- 子宮環 /子宫环 (zǐgōnghuán)contraceptive device
Czech nitroděložní tělísko
- nitroděložní tělískocontraceptive device
Danish spiral
- spiralcontraceptive device
Dutch spiraal, spiraaltje
- spiraalcontraceptive device
- spiraaltjecontraceptive device
Estonian spiraal
- spiraalcontraceptive device
Finnish ehkäisykierukka, kierukka
- ehkäisykierukkacontraceptive device
- kierukkacontraceptive device
French dispositif intra-utérin, DIU
- dispositif intra-utérincontraceptive device
- DIUcontraceptive device
- stériletcontraceptive device
German Intrauterinpessar, Spirale
- Intrauterinpessarcontraceptive device
- Spiralecontraceptive device
Greek κολπικό διάφραγμα
- κολπικό διάφραγμα (kolpikó diáfragma)contraceptive device
Hungarian méhen belüli eszköz, spirál
- méhen belüli eszközcontraceptive device
- spirálcontraceptive device
Indonesian alat kontrasepsi dalam rahim, spiral
- alat kontrasepsi dalam rahimcontraceptive device
- spiralcontraceptive device
Italian dispositivo intrauterino, diaframma
- dispositivo intrauterinocontraceptive device
- diaframmacontraceptive device
- spiralecontraceptive device
- IUDcontraceptive device
Japanese 子宮内避妊器具
- 子宮内避妊器具 (shikyūnai hinin kigu)contraceptive device
Korean 자궁 내 장치, 자궁 내 피임 장치
- 자궁 내 장치 (jagung nae jangchi)contraceptive device
- 자궁 내 피임 장치 (jagung nae piim jangchi)contraceptive device
Norwegian Bokmål spiral
- spiralcontraceptive device
Polish spirala, wkładka
- spiralacontraceptive device
- wkładkacontraceptive device
Portuguese dispositivo intrauterino, DIU
- dispositivo intrauterinocontraceptive device
- DIUcontraceptive device
Russian внутрима́точная спира́ль, ВМС
- внутрима́точная спира́ль (vnutrimátočnaja spirálʹ)contraceptive device
- ВМС (VMS)contraceptive device
- спира́ль (spirálʹ)contraceptive device
Spanish dispositivo intrauterino, DIU
- dispositivo intrauterinocontraceptive device
- DIUcontraceptive device
Swedish spiral, livmoderinlägg
- spiralcontraceptive device
- livmoderinläggcontraceptive device
Turkish spiral, rahim içi araç
- spiralcontraceptive device
- rahim içi araçcontraceptive device
- rahim içi kontraseptif cihazcontraceptive device
Cite this entry
intrauterine device. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intrauterine%20device
“intrauterine device.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intrauterine%20device. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “intrauterine device,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intrauterine%20device.
Source: intrauterine device on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.