Recent Examples on the WebComplications like shoulder dystocia are rare in obstetrics.—Adam Wolfberg, The Atlantic, 26 May 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dystocia.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from New Latin, borrowed from Greek dystokía, from dys-dys- + tókos "childbirth, act of giving birth (of animals), offspring" + -ia-ia entry 1; tókos nominal ablaut derivative of tíktō, tíktein, aorist étekon, tekeîn "to give birth to, beget, generate," probably going back to Indo-European *teḱ- "generate, give birth to," base of the aorist stem *tetḱ- "generate, produce" — more at tectonic
Note:
According to Helmut Rix, et al., Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2. Ausgabe (Wiesbaden, 2001), *te-tḱ- represents a pre-Indo-European reduplicated aorist from which *teḱ- was in effect back-derived. Other than Greek, there appears to be no evidence for *teḱ- as a simple verb, and the supposed connection of the nominal derivative téknon "child, young of an animal" with Germanic *þegna- "servant, retainer of a lord" has been seriously questioned (see thane).
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