caesarean

nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,805 of 15,258neutral

A caesarean is a birth by an operation through the abdomen. An emergency caesarean, planned caesarean, born by caesarean.

It is now one of the commonest major operations in the world, and rates vary enormously between countries in ways that medicine alone does not explain. The story that Julius Caesar was born this way is almost certainly false, since his mother lived for decades afterwards. Note the American spelling cesarean.

Definitions of caesarean

1nouncaesareanA birth by an operation through the abdomen.B2+
“The baby was lying the wrong way, so the doctors decided she needed a caesarean.”

caesarean is a surgical birth.

Also accepted in games: c-section

Where it comes from

From Caesar, by way of the tradition that Julius Caesar was born this way, or from a Latin verb meaning to cut.

From Caesar + ean, but see also Caesarean section § Etymology.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Babies & Growing Up

Practise this word

caesarean in the wild

A caesarean delivery may be performed based upon the shape of the mother's pelvis or history of a previous C-section.
Caesarean section
The World Health Organization recommends that caesarean section be performed only when medically necessary.
Caesarean section
Most babies in the breech position are delivered via caesarean section because it is seen as safer than being born vaginally.
Breech birth
Also, delivering all breech babies by caesarean section in developing countries is difficult to implement as there are not always resources available to provide this service.
Breech birth
A self-performed caesarean section is a form of self-surgery where a woman performs or attempts to perform a caesarean section on herself.
Self-inflicted caesarean section

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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