uterus

noun

uter·​us ˈyü-tə-rəs 

ˈyü-trəs

plural uteri ˈyü-tə-ˌrī  or uteruses

1

: a muscular organ of the female mammal for containing and usually for nourishing the young during development prior to birth

called also womb

2

: a structure in some lower animals analogous to the uterus in which eggs or young develop

Examples of uterus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Viability, a term used by health care providers, generally refers to the stage when a fetus could survive outside the uterus, typically after the 21st week of pregnancy. —Mark R. Weaver, Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2024

The condition means that your uterine cells grow outside of the uterus causing tissue build-up and scarring—and a lot of pain—and there is no cure. —Erika Owen, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Nov. 2024

At the time, the trio had been working together for a decade on IVF, a procedure where the sperm and egg are combined outside of the body and the resulting embryo is then implanted in the uterus. —Lynsey Eidell, People.com, 23 Nov. 2024

Tessa was carrying an ectopic pregnancy, which occurs when an egg is growing outside the uterus. —Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY, 14 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin, belly, womb; probably akin to Greek hoderos belly, Sanskrit udara

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

uterus

noun

uter·​us ˈyüt-ə-rəs 

plural uteruses or uteri -ˌrī 

: the muscular organ of a female mammal in which the young develop before birth

called also womb

Medical Definition

uterus

noun

uter·​us ˈyüt-ə-rəs 

plural uteri -ˌrī  also uteruses

: an organ in female mammals for containing and usually for nourishing the young during development prior to birth that consists of a greatly modified and enlarged section of an oviduct (as in rodents and marsupials) or of the two oviducts united (as in the higher primates including humans), that has thick walls consisting of an outer serous layer, a very thick middle layer of smooth muscle, and an inner mucous layer containing numerous glands, and that during pregnancy undergoes great increase in size and change in the condition of its walls

called also womb

see cervix sense 2a, corpus uteri, endometrium, fundus sense c, myometrium, perimetrium