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Brit. /m
t
n
ti/, U.S. /mtrndi/ Forms: 16 maternitie, 16- maternity. [< Middle French, French maternité (1475; 1814 in sense 3a) < post-classical Latin maternitas (1122; from mid 12th cent. in British sources) < classical Latin m
ternus MATERN adj. + -ts (see -TY suffix1; compare -ITY suffix), after classical Latin paternits PATERNITY n., frternits FRATERNITY n.
Urquhart's use of the word as the title of a senior nun in a convent (see quot. 1693 at sense 1b) is not paralleled in the passage from Rabelais that he is translating.]
1. a. The state, condition, or fact of being a mother, or of expecting a child; motherhood. Also: the period during pregnancy (chiefly attrib.: see senses Compounds 1a , Compounds 1b).
1611 R. COTGRAVE Dict. French & Eng. Tongues,
Maternité, maternitie.
1633 H. HAWKINS Partheneia Sacra 47 In the Violet Marie may you consider..the golden coulour of Maternitie or Charitie in her; since her Charitie was the cause of her Maternitie.
1656 T. BLOUNT Glossographia,
Maternity, motherhood, the being a mother.
1754 S. RICHARDSON Hist. Sir Charles Grandison VII xliii. 212 My maternity so kindly acknowleged, so generously accepted, by my Lord G.
1823 A. T. DE VERE Duke of Mercia II. 53 A wide benignity of eye, that smiles..With the soft gaze of pleased maternity, On all around that's good.
1847 N. W
ISEMAN Unreality Anglican Belief in
Ess. (1853) II. 424 It is impossible to realize a belief in the maternity of the Blessed Virgin, without thus considering her.
1874 I. TAYLOR Etruscan Res. 57 A state of society in which..maternity constituted the only relationship that could legally be recognised.
1894 H. DRUMMOND Lowell Lect. Ascent Man 23 Even in the lowliest world of plants the labours of Maternity begin.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 210/2 The development..takes place..in the woman towards a fitter form for maternity.
1925 Woman's World Apr. 68/1 (
advt.) Lane Bryant Maternity Clothes enable you to dress stylishly during all stages of
maternity
and after baby comes, as well.
1934 J. A. THOMSON & E. J. H
OLMYARD Biol. for Everyman I. xiii. 278 They pair, and the queen [ant] settles down to the most extraordinary maternity in the world
1981 S. K
ITZINGER Experience of Childbirth (ed. 4) xii. 290 She feels tied down by maternity and domesticity.
b. A title given to a senior nun in a convent. Obs rare.
1693 T. URQUHART &
P. A. MOTTEUX tr. Rabelais
Wks. III. xxxiv. 287 The Pope did represent to their Maternities, how hard a matter and difficult it was for them to keep Secrets revealed to them in Confession.
2. The qualities or conduct characteristic of a mother; motherliness. Now rare.
1804 Something Odd II. 186 Mr. Macdonald was delighted at this maternity.
1828 C. LAMB Poor Relations in
Elia 2nd Ser. 151 His stars are perpetually crossed by the malignant maternity of an old woman, who persists in calling him ‘her son Dick’.
1842 J. W. ORDERSON Creoleana xv. 175 An interesting loveliness that endeared her..to the maternity of the two elderly ladies.
1883 H. DRUMMOND Nat. Law in Spiritual World (ed. 2) 154 The tender maternity of the bird.
3. a. Short for maternity department n. , maternity hospital n. , maternity hospital n. at Compounds 1a.
1889 Lancet 7 Sept. 509/2 The hospital..has also a large extern maternity attached. 1976 Sc. Daily Express 27 Dec. 1/5 All the patients from Beckford Lodge have been moved to Bellshill maternity. 1992 J. TORRINGTON Swing Hammer Swing! ix. 73 Maternities have a fine tang of life to them.
b. Mil. slang. Short for maternity jacket n. at Compounds 2. Now hist.
1958 ‘N. SHUTE’ Rainbow & Rose iii. 91 She insisted on giving me a buttonhole..but my maternity hadn't got a buttonhole to put it in.
COMPOUNDS
C1. a. With the sense ‘intended to meet the needs of women during pregnancy or in the period directly after childbirth’.
maternity allowance n.
1912 Polit. Sci. Q. 27 757 A bill to establish a *maternity allowance of £5 passed second reading. 1948 Population Stud. 2 227 It was also thought fit to go beyond the limit prescribed by the Code de la Famille and to grant a maternity allowance to any woman aged under 25, whether married or unmarried, who has a birth. 1987 Babies & Benefits (Dept. Health & Social Security) 6 You may be able to get Maternity Allowance if you have paid National Insurance (NI) contributions while working.
maternity department n.
1903 Strand Mag. Apr. 423/1 In addition to the general wards there are..a *maternity department [etc.]. 1985 Internat. Family Planning Perspectives 11 3 Alioune Sarr, head of the maternity department of the municipal hospital in Dakar, Senegal, reported that in his section..there are about 10,000 deliveries a year.
maternity grant n.
1943 Econ. Jrnl. 53 4 *Maternity grant, provision for widowhood and separation, and, in the case of those engaged in paid work, maternity benefit..will be secured to all housewifes. 1985 M. F. MYLES Textbk. Midwives (ed. 10) xli. 697 Maternity grant is paid to all mothers.
maternity home n.
1893 Catholic World Mar. 869 There are fourteen homes divided into three classes, one for the better class of girls, one for mothers and children, one as a *Maternity Home, and the rest for the rougher class of inmates. 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 652/1 The supervision of midwifery, including the establishment of maternity homes. 1967 Encycl. Brit. XV. 66/1 Increasing grants have been made by some governments for the construction of free maternity homes or maternity wards in general hospitals.
maternity hospital n.
1852 M. G. L. DUNCAN Amer. as I found It 314 The really important places, such as the Refuge, the Night Refuge, the *Maternity Hospital, the Shelter, the Delinquent's Refuges, and the Ragged Schools. 1887 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Mar. 591/1 Manchester has long felt the want of a maternity hospital. 1992 Daily Mirror 3 Oct. 13/3 We are sending home fat babies from the maternity hospital, only to see them return as malnourished toddlers.
maternity leave n.
1919 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 27 668 The one big exception to this generalization, if women are to become industrial workers on a plane of efficiency and experience..comparable to that of men, is the necessity that women be granted *maternity leave. 1992 Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chron. 18 Oct. F 18/3 Like other part-time scenarios, this schedule could help keep life after maternity leave from being restrictive.
maternity nurse n.
1902 Daily Chron. 1 Mar. 4/3 Miss F., a *maternity nurse. 1990 P. STREET Guilty Parties (BNC) 61 Your husband tells me that your temporary housekeeper is leaving soon and your maternity nurse is being replaced by a young nanny.
maternity pay n.
1981 Jrnl. Econ. Lit. 19 62/2 Generous *maternity
payeven for
fathersin Sweden.
1991 MSF Sept.-Oct. 8/4 MSF is refusing to wait for the social charter and has organised maternity pay agreements at several companies.
maternity unit n.
1938 Lancet 8 Jan. 109/2 A ‘Flying Squad’ in London... Islington is shortly to have the first *maternity emergency unit to be established in London.
1964 G. L. COHEN What's Wrong with Hospitals? vi. 128 The very consultants who attack P.P.C. for disrupting continuity of care champion the same idea in maternity units.
1977 R.A.F. News 22 June-5 July 13 (
caption) SACW Margie Lee, an SEN, nursing a premature baby in the maternity unit at RAF Hospital Wegberg.
maternity ward n.
1899 Hospital 12 Aug. (Nursing Mirror section) 255/2 The small *maternity ward which forms part of the big gynæcological ward, ‘Queen Victoria’. 1967 Encycl. Brit. XV. 66/1 Increasing grants have been made by some governments for the construction of free maternity homes or maternity wards in general hospitals. 1992 J. MITFORD Amer. Way of Birth III. v. 96 During the mid-1970s Diana Scully..spent three years..watching procedures in the maternity wards and recording the conversations of residents.
b. Designating garments designed to be suitable for a pregnant woman.
1893 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Apr. 28/2 Summer maternity gowns.
1923 Today's Housewife Aug. 19/4 Lane Bryant's Maternity Clothes enable you to dress stylishly during all stages of maternity.
1951 I. SHAW Troubled Air x. 164 She was wearing one of her shapeless tent-like maternity dresses.
1963 ‘G. B
AGBY’
Murder's Little Helper (1964) ii. 14 What kind of a burglar is it that swipes maternity clothes?
1977 Zigzag Mar. 17/3, I had a maternity dress on, and a white face.
1994 N.Y. Times 27 Nov.
III. 12/2 If your pregnant pals have been looking a little frumpy lately, it would come as little surprise to the sellers of high-fashion maternity clothes.
C2. maternity benefit n. a welfare payment made to women during pregnancy or directly after childbirth.
1911 Lancet 13 May 1320/2 There were only one or two friendly societies which at the present moment allowed any *maternity benefit. 1970 National Insurance: Maternity Benefits (Dept. Health & Social Security, NI 17A) III. xxiii. 18 Any question about contributions, including whether the contribution tests for maternity benefit..are satisfied, is reserved for the Secretary of State for Social Services.
maternity jacket n. Mil. slang (now hist.) a type of tunic worn in the Royal Flying Corps (see quot. 1925).
1925 E. FRASER & J. G
IBBONS Soldier & Sailor Words 154 *
Maternity jacket, the name given the double breasted tunic, worn formerly in the Royal Flying Corps.
1976 R. M
ASSEY When I was Young xiii. 103 He was wearing the double-breasted tunic of the Royal Flying Corps, known as a ‘maternity jacket’.
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