accouchementn.
/əˈkuːʃmɒ̃/, U.S. /ˌɑkuʃˈmɑnt/, /əˈkuʃmənt/ Now chiefly archaic or historical.
The confinement of a woman to bed for the birth of a child; the delivery of a child, childbirth. Also: an instance of this. Cf. accoucheur n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [noun]
childbeda1200
bend1297
gesinea1400
lying-inc1440
labour1472
down-lying1561
groaning1579
groaning-time1579
partion1656
crying out1692
accouchement1730
inlying1734
confinement1774
accubation1853
1730 T. Salmon Mod. Hist. XII. 441 She determin'd to offer up her Devotions in the Metropolitan Church of Paris, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, for better Success in her next Accouchement.
1772 Scots Mag. Feb. 61/1 Men do not, in this country, so frequently attend the accouchement of ladies as in England.
1803 E. Wynne Diary 2 Sept. in Wynne Diaries (1940) III. iv. 89 Mrs. Otway's accouchement which is daily expected.
1859 J. E. Tennent Ceylon II. ix. vi. 546 Their accouchements were assisted by women retained for their knowledge of midwifery.
1899 K. Chopin Awakening iv. 23 Never would Edna Pontellier forget the shock with which she heard Madame Ratignolle relating to old Monsieur Farival the harrowing story of one of her accouchements, withholding no intimate detail.
1914 Pop. Sci. Monthly Sept. 254 Legislation should be enacted forbidding the employment of mothers in industrial establishments at least six weeks before and after accouchement.
1955 Times 23 Aug. 9/4 Feelings of relief at a safe accouchement.
2000 Daily Tel. 23 May 27/4 At the time of her accouchement she was 38.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1730