Meanings
plural pessaries
- A medical device similar to the outer ring of a contraceptive diaphragm, most commonly used to support a displaced uterus; also called therapeutic pessary.
Synonyms: diaphragm, cervical cap
- contraceptionA diaphragm or cervical cap.
- medicineA vaginal suppository.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA medical device similar to the outer ring of a contraceptive diaphragm, most commonly used to support a displaced uterus; also called therapeutic pessary.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna contraceptive device consisting of a flexible dome-shaped cup made of rubber or plastic; it is filled with spermicide and fitted over the uterine cervix
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpessarium
- Old Frenchpessaire
- Middle Englishpessarie
- Englishpessary
From Middle English pessarie, from Old French pessaire, from Latin pessarium.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish pessar
- pessarcontraceptive device
Dutch pessarium
- pessariumvaginal suppository
Finnish pessaari, pessaari
- pessaarisupporting device
- pessaaricontraceptive device
- vagitoriovaginal suppository
Indonesian pesarium
- pesariumsupporting device
Latin pessārium, pessārium
- pessāriumsupporting device
- pessāriumcontraceptive device
Malay pesari
- pesarisupporting device
Polish wkładka domaciczna, wkładka domaciczna
- wkładka domacicznasupporting device
- wkładka domacicznacontraceptive device
- wkładka domacicznavaginal suppository
Spanish pesario
- pesariovaginal suppository
Cite this entry
pessary. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pessary
“pessary.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pessary. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pessary,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pessary.
Source: pessary on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.