(pl. -wives /-waɪvz/)
1- a person (typically a woman) trained to assist women in childbirth助产士, 接生员（尤指产婆）。
1.1
- figurative a person or thing that helps to bring something into being or assists its development〈喻〉催生者（或因素）; 促进发展者：
he survived to be one of the midwives of the Reformation.
他活了下来, 成为推进宗教改革者之一。
with obj.
1- assist (a woman) during childbirth助（妇女）分娩。
1.1
- figurative bring into being〈喻〉促生, 给…催生：
revolutions midwifed by new technologies of communication.
由新通信技术催生的革新。
派生词
midwifery
/-wɪfərɪ/ noun词源
Middle English: probably from the obsolete preposition mid 'with' + WIFE （in the archaic sense 'woman'）, expressing the sense 'a woman who is with (the mother)'.