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Noun: maternity  mu'tur-ni-tee
  1. The state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth when a woman carries a developing foetus in her uterus
    - pregnancy, gestation
     
  2. The kinship relation between an offspring and the mother
    - motherhood
     
  3. The quality of having or showing the tenderness and warmth and affection of or befitting a mother
    - motherliness, maternalism, maternal quality

Derived forms: maternities

See also: maternal

Type of: family relationship, kinship, parental quality, physical condition, physiological condition, physiological state, relationship

Encyclopedia: Maternity