midwifery
/ˈmɪdˌwaɪfəɹi/noun
midwifery is spelled M-I-D-W-I-F-E-R-Y: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, midwifery means “The practice and science of being a midwife” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of midwifery is midwiferies.
How many letters and syllables are in midwifery?
| Letters | 9: M-I-D-W-I-F-E-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,549th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is midwifery?
Midwifery appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce midwifery?
- UK /mɪdˈwɪfəɹi/
- US /ˈmɪdˌwaɪfəɹi/
Midwifery has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-midwifery.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of midwifery
- midwiferies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does midwifery mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The practice and science of being a midwife.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Midwifery in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the practice and science of being a midwife:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | obstétrique |
| German | Geburtshilfe |
| Portuguese | partejamento |
| Spanish | partería |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does midwifery come from?
From Middle English medewifry; equivalent to midwife + -ery.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).