gynecology

noun

gy·​ne·​col·​o·​gy ˌgī-nə-ˈkä-lə-jē  ˌji- 

: a branch of medicine that deals with the diseases and routine physical care of the reproductive system of women

gynecologic

ˌgī-ni-kə-ˈlä-jik  ˌji- 

adjective

or gynecological

ˌgī-ni-kə-ˈlä-ji-kəl  ˌji- 

Examples of gynecology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The risk of developing severe OHSS during an egg retrieval cycle is about 1%, says Paula Amato, MD, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Oregon Health and Science University and the president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. —Paige Stables, Allure, 16 Nov. 2023

As the chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at UT Southwestern Medicine, Catherine Spong is used to seeing a lot of baby bumps. —Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 2023

If a uterine rupture results in excessive bleeding, a patient may have to undergo a blood transfusion or an emergency hysterectomy, explains William Grobman, MD, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago. —Lisa Milbrand, Parents, 20 Sep. 2023

The tower houses a neonatal intensive care unit, obstetrics, gynecology, and rehabilitation departments, Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Cody Weireter said to reporters overnight. —Marlene Lenthang, NBC News, 22 Aug. 2023

The Specialty Care Center houses the hospital’s neonatal, obstetrics and gynecology units as well as patients undergoing rehabilitation. —Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 22 Aug. 2023

Currently, doctors do not routinely prescribe an NSAID along with emergency contraception in the way that the women in the study took them, says Dr. Erica Cahill, assistant professor in obstetrics and gynecology at Stanford University, who wrote an accompanying commentary to the study. —Alice Park, Time, 16 Aug. 2023

Obstetrics and gynecology, for example, saw its national ranking increase from 26 to 15. —Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Aug. 2023

In certain specialties, MGH ranked second in psychiatry and fourth in ophthalmology, while Brigham and Women’s ranked first in obstetrics and gynecology and fifth in both cancer treatment and rheumatology. —Shannon Larson, BostonGlobe.com, 1 Aug. 2023

See More

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from German Gynäkologie, borrowed from New Latin gynaecologia, from gynaeco- gyneco- + -logia -logy

Note: The Latin term appears in the titles of the German physician Martin Schurig's Gynaecologia historico-medica (Dresden, 1730) and in the German humanist and physician Johann Peter Lotichius's Gynaicologia, id est, de nobilitate et perfectione sexus feminei (Rinteln, 1630). Neither work, however, dealt with gynecology as a branch of medicine. Schurig's book dealt with female sexual behavior from a medical and legal standpoint, and Lotichius discussed the nature of women and challenged the ancients' belief in female inferiority.

First Known Use

1828, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

gynecology

noun

gy·​ne·​col·​o·​gy ˌgīn-i-ˈkäl-ə-jē  ˌjin- 

: a branch of medicine that is concerned with the diseases and routine medical care of the reproductive system of women

Medical Definition

gynecology

noun

gy·​ne·​col·​o·​gy

variants or chiefly British gynaecology

ˌgīn-ə-ˈkäl-ə-jē  ˌjin- 

plural gynecologies

: a branch of medicine that deals with the diseases and routine physical care of the reproductive system of women

gynecologic

ˌgīn-i-kə-ˈläj-ik  ˌjin- 

adjective

or gynecological

-i-kəl 

or chiefly British gynaecologic or gynaecological