uterus

noun

uter·​us ˈyü-tə-rəs 

ˈyü-trəs

plural uteri ˈyü-tə-ˌrī  or uteruses

1

: a muscular organ of the female mammal for containing and usually for nourishing the young during development prior to birth

called also womb

2

: a structure in some other animals (such as salamanders and nematodes) analogous to the mammalian uterus in which eggs or young develop

Examples of uterus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Endometriosis is a condition affecting the reproductive system in which uterine tissue grows outside of the uterus, causing cramping and chronic pain, according to the World Health Organization, which estimates that approximately 190 million women worldwide have the disease. —Vanessa Etienne, PEOPLE, 22 June 2026

The murder of the pregnant person and forcible removal of a fetus from their uterus is the culmination of a crime that took extensive planning. —Elizabeth Yuko, Rolling Stone, 18 June 2026

In Mollica's case, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in August 2025 that her lawsuit should not have been dismissed, almost nine years after a doctor first found the fibroid on her uterus. —Christie Thompson, NPR, 17 June 2026

In one engraving from van Deventer’s manual, his arm is shown inserted into an empty uterus almost up to the elbow, the engraver’s close, texturing lines transforming his hand into a radiating light within a cavernous female darkness. —Literary Hub, 16 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin, belly, womb; probably akin to Greek hoderos belly, Sanskrit udara

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

uterus

noun

uter·​us ˈyüt-ə-rəs 

plural uteruses or uteri -ˌrī 

: the muscular organ of a female mammal in which the young develop before birth

called also womb

Medical Definition

uterus

noun

uter·​us ˈyüt-ə-rəs 

plural uteri -ˌrī  also uteruses

: an organ in female mammals for containing and usually for nourishing the young during development prior to birth that consists of a greatly modified and enlarged section of an oviduct (as in rodents and marsupials) or of the two oviducts united (as in the higher primates including humans), that has thick walls consisting of an outer serous layer, a very thick middle layer of smooth muscle, and an inner mucous layer containing numerous glands, and that during pregnancy undergoes great increase in size and change in the condition of its walls

called also womb

see cervix sense 2a, corpus uteri, endometrium, fundus sense c, myometrium, perimetrium