ENGLISH
REFERENCE

womb

n. countable
C1 Advanced US //ˈwum// UK //wˈuːm// womb Archaic

n. the organ inside a woman's body where a baby grows before it is born. It is also called the uterus.

n. the hollow muscular organ in the pelvic cavity of female mammals in which the embryo or fetus develops. Often used in literary or medical contexts; the term 'uterus' is more common in strictly clinical settings.


SIMPLE

The baby is growing safely in the womb.

CONTEXTUAL

Expectant parents often play music near the mother's stomach, hoping the baby can hear it from inside the womb.

COMPLEX

The study explores how the environment of the womb can influence a child's health and development long after they are born, highlighting the importance of prenatal care.

Synonyms
Origin

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 Superseded non-native Middle English mater, matere (“womb”) and matris, matrice (“womb”) borrowed from Latin māter (“womb”) and Old French matrice (“womb”), respectively.

Usage

Often used with the definite article 'the' when referring to the organ in a general biological sense.

© 2026 English Reference