puerperium
/ˌpju.ɚˈpɪɹ.i.əm/noun
puerperium is spelled P-U-E-R-P-E-R-I-U-M: 10 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 59 million words in written English, the 240,237th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, puerperium means “The period of time lasting around a month immediately following childbirth, when the mother’s uterus shrinks back to its prepartum state” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of puerperium is puerperia.
How many letters and syllables are in puerperium?
| Letters | 10: P-U-E-R-P-E-R-I-U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 59 million words; the 240,237th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is puerperium?
Puerperium appears about once in every 59 million words in written English, the 240,237th 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 puerperium?
- UK /ˌpju.əˈpɪə.ɹi.əm/
- US /ˌpju.ɚˈpɪɹ.i.əm/
Puerperium has 5 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What rhymes with puerperium?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as puerperium from its last stressed vowel (/ɪɹiəm/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of puerperium
- puerperia plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does puerperium mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The period of time lasting around a month immediately following childbirth, when the mother’s uterus shrinks back to its prepartum state.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Puerperium in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense period of time following childbirth:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Wochenbett |
| Portuguese | puerpério |
| Spanish | puerperio |
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 puerperium come from?
Borrowed from Latin puerperium (“childbed, childbirth”), from puerpera (“woman in labor or childbed”) + -ium (nominal suffix), from puerperus (“parturient, bringing forth children”), from puer (“child, boy”) + pariō (“to bring forth, bear”) + -us (adjectival suffix).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).