midwife 英 [ˈmɪdwaɪf] 助产士;接生婆
midwife一词中的mid和如今意为“中间的”的mid不是一个词,也没有什么关系,它在古英语是with(和…一起)的意思,相当于现代德语中的mit。而wife在古英语原作wif,意为woman(妇女),和alewife(麦芽酒店女老板),fishwife(卖鱼妇)二词中wife的含义相同。midwife的含义就是a woman who is with another (at childbirth),因此被用来指“接生婆”或“助产士”也就不难理解了。
双语例句
She's a trained midwife.
她是受过专门训练的助产士。
With the help of the midwife, the baby was born successfully.
在助产士的帮助下,胎儿顺利地降生了。