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Webster 1913 Edition

Midwife

Mid′wifeˊ

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Midwives
(#)
.
[OE.
midwif
, fr. AS.
mid
with (akin to Gr. [GREEK]) + [GREEK] woman, wife. Properly, the woman or wife who is attendant upon a woman in childbirth. See
Meta-
, and
Wife
.]
A woman who assists other women in childbirth; a female practitioner of the obstetric art.

Mid′wifeˊ

,
Verb.
T.
To assist in childbirth.

Mid′wifeˊ

,
Verb.
I.
To perform the office of midwife.

Webster 1828 Edition

Midwife

MID'WIFE

,
Noun.
[supposed by Junius and Skinner to be meedwife, a woman that has a reward. This is probably a mistake. The word is a compound of mid, with, and wif,a woman; in analogy with the L. obstetrix, from obsto, obstiti, to stand before. L. cum, with, and madre, mother, which is precisely analogous to midwife.]
A woman that assists other women in childbirth.

MID'WIFE

,
Verb.
I.
To perform the office of midwife.

MID'WIFE

,
Verb.
T.
To assist in childbirth.

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