Definition of meconium
: a dark greenish mass that accumulates in the bowel during fetal life and is discharged shortly after birth
What's Trending Now
More Trending Words
Recent Examples of meconium from the Web
-
The girl, who was born in March, 2015 and Noah, who was born on Jan. 6, tested positive for marijuana via a meconium screen, court records show.
-
Claire was born with meconium ileus, a bowel obstruction that is a telltale sign of CF.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'meconium.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of meconium
Latin, literally, poppy juice, from Greek mēkōnion, from mēkōn poppy; akin to Old High German mago poppy
NEW! Time Traveler
First Known Use: circa 1706
in the meaning defined above
See Words from the same yearMedical Dictionary
medical Definition of meconium
: a dark greenish mass of desquamated cells, mucus, and bile that accumulates in the bowel of a fetus and is typically discharged shortly after birth
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up meconium? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
