maternity

«maternity» in Mova's school dictionary: the state of being a mother — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (maternity, uncountable); adjective (maternity — before a noun)

meaning for a pupil

1) Maternity is the state of being a mother. tree →

2) As an adjective it means to do with having a baby: maternity clothes, a maternity ward. tree →

3) (work) Maternity leave is time off work that a mother gets before and after her baby is born, often with maternity pay. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday adult life a teacher may go on maternity leave and a supply teacher takes the class. Hospitals have maternity wards where babies are born. Phrases: «maternity leave», «maternity ward», «maternity pay», «maternity clothes». The father's version is «paternity».

examples

• Our teacher is going on maternity leave next month. tree →
• My little brother was born in the maternity ward. tree →
• Mum wore maternity clothes before the baby came. tree →
• Some mothers get maternity pay while they look after their babies. tree →
• The maternity unit is on the second floor. tree →
• When the baby is born, the dad may take paternity leave. tree →
• She returned to work after a year of maternity leave. tree →

note

Mostly used before another noun (maternity leave). Related: maternal (motherly), mother. Opposite for fathers: paternity. Formal; children usually say «having a baby».

In the corpora

• Parents get time off work, called maternity and paternity leave, to look after a new baby.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «maternity» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.