neonatal

N1E1O1N1A1T1A1L1

adjective

Of or pertaining to the period of time immediately following birth, or to the newborn.

“The baby was placed in the neonatal intensive care unit.”

OriginEnglish natal ← Middle English natal ← Latin nātālis →
Less commonScrabble 8
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Meanings

adjectiveneonatal (not comparable)

alternative neo-natal

  1. not comparableOf or pertaining to the period of time immediately following birth, or to the newborn.

    The baby was placed in the neonatal intensive care unit.

    1 more example

    Clancy, a former neonatal and delivery nurse, had been accused of strangling her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months, in the family’s Duxbury home in January 2023.

    2026 September 4, Edward Helmore, Maya Yang, “Judge declares mistrial in Lindsay Clancy case after jury deadlocked again”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 05 Sep 2026

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*nu
  2. Proto-Indo-European*néwos
  3. Proto-Hellenic*néwos
  4. Ancient Greekνέος (néos)
  5. Ancient Greekνεο- (neo-)
  6. Englishneo-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*ǵenh₁-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*ǵn̥h₁tós
  9. Proto-Italic*gnātos
  10. Latingnātus
  11. Latinnātus
  12. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  14. Latinnātālis
  15. Middle Englishnatal
  16. Englishnatal
  17. Englishneonatal

From neo- + natal.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian неоната́лен
  • неоната́лен (neonatálen)of or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
Catalan neonatal
  • neonatalof or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
Finnish neonataalinen
  • neonataalinenof or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
French néonatal
  • néonatalof or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
Hungarian neonatális
  • neonatálisof or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
Indonesian neonatal
  • neonatalof or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
Italian neonatale
  • neonataleof or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
Māori piripoho hou
  • piripoho houof or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
Polish neonatalny
  • neonatalnyof or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
Portuguese neonatal
  • neonatalof or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
Romanian de noi născuți, neonatal
  • de noi născuțiof or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
  • neonatalof or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
Spanish neonatal
  • neonatalof or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
Swedish neonatal
  • neonatalof or pertaining to the time immediately after birth
Cite this entry
APA

neonatal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neonatal

MLA

“neonatal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neonatal. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “neonatal,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neonatal.

Source: neonatal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.