antenatal

Etymology

It is formed from English ante- + natal,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the prefix being from Latin ante (“before”),^[7][3] and natal being from Latin nātālis (“pertaining to birth or origin”), from nātus (“born”), the past participle of nāscor (“to be born”),^[3][8] from Proto-Indo-European *gene- (“to give birth, beget”).^[3] Klein and Chambers also allow for direct formation on nātus.^[8][9] The OED compares prenatal and the earlier antenatalitial.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Occurring or existing before birth: 1796, in the new edition of W. Godwin's Enquiry Political Justice, according to the OED's revised entry.^[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster Unabridged give 1798,^[3][4] and Dictionary.com 1810–20.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The OED records only the general sense until 1910.^[2] The medical sense, of the care of women and their unborn children during pregnancy, is first quoted in the Transactions of an American association for the prevention of infant mortality,^[2] and to the late 19th century by the Shorter Oxford.^[5] Etymonline adds that the old term ante-nati was used in Scotland for those born before the accession of James I to the English throne, and in the United States for those born in the colonies before the Declaration of Independence.^[3]

Timeline

• 1796 – occurring or existing before birth.^[2] Etymonline dates it to 1798.^[3]
• late 19th century – adverb antenatally.^[5]
• 1910 – of services for the health of women and unborn children during pregnancy.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Taking place or present before birth; relating to an unborn child: an antenatal injury.^[10][4][2]
2. Taking place during pregnancy, or relating to the medical care of pregnant women: weekly antenatal classes.^{[10][4][2][5]}

Noun

1. (informal) A medical examination during pregnancy.^[10]

Word family

• antenatally

Related words

• natal
• perinatal
• postnatal
• prenatal
• ante-
• neonatal

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster Unabridged labels the word chiefly British.^[4] Collins gives prenatal as another name for the noun,^[10] and Etymonline dates prenatal to 1826.^[3]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins