antenataladj.
/ˌantᵻˈneɪtl/, U.S. /ˌæn(t)iˈneɪd(ə)l/, /ˌæn(t)əˈneɪd(ə)l/ 1. Occurring or existing before birth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [adjective] > giving birth > before or after birth > before
antenatalitial1708
antenatal1796
prenatal1826
antepartum1853
prepartum1858
pre-delivery1946
1796 W. Godwin Enq. Polit. Justice (new ed.) I. i. iv. 25 Effects of antenatal impressions.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Prince Athanase in Posthumous Poems (1824) 109 Memories of an antenatal life.
1848 C. Kingsley Saint's Trag. ii. ix. 34 A heaven, my spirit's antenatal home.
1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul II. ix. xxxviii. 242 The antenatal predilection for Israel and detestation of Esau.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1461 Our life begins and ends in sleep. There is the ante-natal sleep and there is often an ante-mortem sleep.
1978 D. Gibson Down's Syndrome v. 138 Studies..support a picture of general lethargy attributed variously to motor lag..or to some antenatal central nervous system deficiency.
2006 New Scientist 1 July 46/2 Researchers investigating the effects of alcohol in pregnancy have begun to widen their definition of antenatal alcohol damage.
2. Designating services for monitoring and maintaining the health and well-being of women and their unborn children during pregnancy; of, relating to, or using such services.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > pregnancy or gestation > [adjective] > relating to
gestative1828
gestate1854
gestatory1889
gestational1896
antenatal1910
prenatal1914
progestational1923
progestogenic1948
1910 Trans. Amer. Assoc. Study & Prevention of Infant Mortality 1 256 These are..philanthropic associations..for the training of mid-wives and maternity assistants for the protection and ante-natal care of expectant mothers.
1917 Maternity & Child Welfare (Local Govt. Board Rep.) p. xi At Bradford there is an ante-natal clinic at the Maternity Hospital.
1930 Lancet 20 Dec. 1359/2 Many local authorities have already provided facilities for antenatal supervision.
2006 Mother & Baby Aug. 133/1 We go to music classes and baby-signing, as do all my antenatal mums.
Derivatives
anteˈnatally adv. before being born; before giving birth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [adverb] > before birth
antenatally1846
antepartum1857
prenatally1879
1846 ‘Proteus’ Social Infl. I. 189 Adjourned to the St. Aubins', among the guests..a widower, soured in temper to such an extent that he might have been imagined ante-natally so.
1902 J. W. Ballantyne Man. Antenatal Pathol. & Hygiene: Fœtus xviii. 319 In foetal ichthyosis the thickening of the epidermis has occurred to its fullest extent antenatally.
1976 Lancet 9 Oct. 775/2 Most mothers are seen by doctors antenatally.
2008 Independent 5 Feb. 12/2 Mothers of almost 22,000 children suffered the death of a close relative antenatally.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.1796