Meanings
plural wombs · alternative dialectal wame
- obsoleteThe abdomen or stomach.First known use 8th–17th c.
And his hede, hym semed,was enamyled with asure, and his shuldyrs shone as the golde, and his wombe was lyke mayles of a merveylous hew[…].
And his head, it seemed to him, was enamelled with azure, and his shoulders shone like gold, and his womb was like mail of a marvelous hue […].
1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book V, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC - figurativelyA place where something is made or formed.First known use 15th c.
The womb of earth the genial seed receives.
1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC1 more example
The shadows of the future hours rose dark and menacing from the womb of time [...]
1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter VII, in The Last Man. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC - Any cavity containing and enveloping anything.
The centre spike of gold Which burns deep in the blue-bell's womb.
1855, Robert Browning, Popularity
Synonyms & antonyms
nounIn female mammals, the organ in which the young are conceived and grow until birth; the uterus.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna hollow muscular organ in the pelvic cavity of females; contains the developing fetus
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*wambō“belly, stomach, abdomen”
- Proto-West Germanic*wambu
- Old Englishwomb
- Middle Englishwombe
- Englishwomb
From Middle English wombe, wambe, from Old English womb, wamb (“belly, stomach; bowels; heart; womb; hollow”), from Proto-West Germanic *wambu, from Proto-Germanic *wambō (“belly, stomach, abdomen”). Cognate with Scots wam, wame (“womb”), Dutch wam (“dewlap of beef; belly of a fish”), German Wamme, Wampe (“paunch, belly”), Danish vom (“belly, paunch, rumen”), Swedish våmb (“belly, stomach, rumen”), Norwegian vom (“rumen”), Icelandic vömb (“belly, abdomen, stomach”), Old Welsh gumbelauc (“womb”), Breton gwamm (“woman, wife”), Sanskrit वपा (vapā́, “the skin or membrane lining the intestines or parts of the viscera, the caul or omentum”). Superseded nonnative Middle English mater, matere (“womb”), and matris, matrice (“womb”) borrowed from Latin māter (“womb”) and Old French matrice (“womb”), respectively.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans baarmoeder
- baarmoederuterus
Ancient Greek μήτρα, ὑστέρα
- μήτρα (mḗtra)uterus
- ὑστέρα (hustéra)uterus
- δελφύς (delphús)uterus
Arabic رَحِم, بَيْت الْوَلِد
- رَحِم (raḥim)uterus
- بَيْت الْوَلِد (bayt al-walid)uterus
- مَنشَأfiguratively: place where something is made or formed
- رَحِم (raḥim)figuratively: place where something is made or formed
Basque umetoki
- umetokiuterus
Bengali জরায়ু
- জরায়ু (joraẏu)uterus
Bulgarian ма́тка, утро́ба
- ма́тка (mátka)uterus
- утро́ба (utróba)uterus
- утро́ба (utróba)figuratively: place where something is made or formed
Catalan úter, matriu
- úteruterus
- matriuuterus
Chinese Cantonese 子宮 /子宫
- 子宮 /子宫 (zi² gung¹)uterus
Chinese Mandarin 子宮 /子宫
- 子宮 /子宫 (zǐgōng)uterus
Czech děloha, lůno
- dělohauterus
- lůnouterus
- uterusuterus
- lůnofiguratively: place where something is made or formed
- kolébkafiguratively: place where something is made or formed
Danish livmoder
- livmoderuterus
Dutch baarmoeder
- baarmoederuterus
Esperanto utero
- uterouterus
Estonian emakas
- emakasuterus
Finnish kohtu, kehto
- kohtuuterus
- kehtofiguratively: place where something is made or formed
French utérus, ventre
- utérusuterus
- ventreuterus
- matriceuterus
- seinuterus
- entraillesuterus
- moulefiguratively: place where something is made or formed
- seinfiguratively: place where something is made or formed
German Gebärmutter, Uterus
- Gebärmutteruterus
- Uterusuterus
- Mutterleibuterus
- Schoßuterus
Greek μήτρα, μήτρα
- μήτρα (mítra)uterus
- μήτρα (mítra)figuratively: place where something is made or formed
Hebrew רֶחֶם \ רַחַם
- רֶחֶם \ רַחַם (rékhem, rákham)uterus
Hindi गर्भ, गर्भाशय
- गर्भ (garbh)uterus
- गर्भाशय (garbhāśay)uterus
- बच्चादानी (baccādānī)uterus
Hungarian méh
- méhuterus
Icelandic leg, móðurlíf
- leguterus
- móðurlífuterus
Indonesian rahim
- rahimuterus
Irish broinn
- broinnuterus
Italian utero, grembo
- uterouterus
- grembouterus
- grembofiguratively: place where something is made or formed
- senofiguratively: place where something is made or formed
Japanese 子宮, 母胎
- 子宮 (shikyū)uterus
- 母胎 (botai)uterus
Korean 자궁
- 자궁 (jagung)uterus
Latin mātrīx, uterus
- mātrīxuterus
- uterusuterus
- uterumuterus
Latvian dzemde
- dzemdeuterus
Lithuanian gimda
- gimdauterus
Malay rahim, peranakan
- rahimuterus
- peranakanuterus
- kandunguterus
- kandunganuterus
- uterusuterus
Māori wharekano, wharekākano
- wharekanouterus
- wharekākanouterus
- wharetangatauterus
Norwegian Bokmål livmor
- livmoruterus
Polish macica, łono
- macicauterus
- łonofiguratively: place where something is made or formed
Portuguese útero, matriz
- úterouterus
- matrizuterus
- úterofiguratively: place where something is made or formed
Punjabi ਬੱਚੇਦਾਨੀ
- ਬੱਚੇਦਾਨੀ (baccedānī)uterus
Romanian uter, matcă
- uteruterus
- matcăuterus
Russian ма́тка, утро́ба
- ма́тка (mátka)uterus
- утро́ба (utróba)uterus
- чре́во (črévo)uterus
- ло́но (lóno)figuratively: place where something is made or formed
- чре́во (črévo)figuratively: place where something is made or formed
- колыбе́ль (kolybélʹ)figuratively: place where something is made or formed
Scottish Gaelic machlag, broinn
- machlaguterus
- broinnuterus
- brùuterus
- broinnfiguratively: place where something is made or formed
Slovak maternica, uterus
- maternicauterus
- uterusuterus
- lonofiguratively: place where something is made or formed
Spanish vientre, cuna
- vientreuterus
- cunafiguratively: place where something is made or formed
Swahili nyumba ya uzazi, tumbo
- nyumba ya uzaziuterus
- tumbouterus
Swedish livmoder
- livmoderuterus
Tagalog bahay-bata, sinapupunan
- bahay-batauterus
- sinapupunanuterus
- matrisuterus
- uterouterus
Tamil கருப்பை
- கருப்பை (karuppai)uterus
Thai มดลูก
- มดลูก (mót-lûuk)uterus
Turkish döl yatağı, rahim
- döl yatağıuterus
- rahimuterus
- meşimeuterus
- uterusuterus
Ukrainian ма́тка, утро́ба
- ма́тка (mátka)uterus
- утро́ба (utróba)uterus
- че́рево (čérevo)uterus
Urdu رَحِم, گَرْبھ
- رَحِم (rahim)uterus
- گَرْبھ (garbh)uterus
- زَہْدان (zahdān)uterus
Vietnamese tử cung, dạ con
- tử cunguterus
- dạ conuterus
Welsh croth
- crothuterus
Yiddish טראַכט, מוטערטראַכט
- טראַכט (trakht)uterus
- מוטערטראַכט (mutertrakht)uterus
- הייבמוטער (heybmuter)uterus
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with womb
Cite this entry
womb. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/womb
“womb.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/womb. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “womb,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/womb.
Source: womb on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.