Word.ws English Dictionary

prematernal

prematernal adjective: before motherhood.

Adjective

prematernal (comparative more prematernal, superlative most prematernal)

  1. Before motherhood.
    • In Renaissance paintings, one of the favorite themes was that of the Annunciation, in which Mary's virginity, her slender, prematernal form, her solitary condition were stressed.1991, Eric R. Wolf, Adrianus Koster, Daniel Meijers, Religious Regimes and State Formation, page 233
    • Experienced mothers shared their wisdom and sipped sherbet punch, while the prematernal crowd chatted about manicures and Hollywood weddings.2006, Colleen Sell, A Cup Of Comfort For Mothers To Be, page 281

Forms of prematernal

comparativemore prematernal
superlativemost prematernal

Origin of prematernal

From pre- + maternal.

Questions about prematernal

What does prematernal mean?
Prematernal means before motherhood.
What part of speech is prematernal?
Prematernal is an adjective.

Words near prematernal in the dictionary

  1. premastication
  2. prematch
  3. prematched
  4. premate
  5. premated
  6. prematernal
  7. prematernity
  8. premates
  9. premating
  10. prematriculation
  11. prematrimonial

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: prematernal (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “prematernal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/prematernal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.