3

What is the etymology of the yiddish term "kimpeturin," which refers to a woman who is recovering after childbirth?

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

interesting. no firm source, but if i would have to guess, it would SEEM to be: kim + peturin

where kim = get up peturin = as in peter rechem, the opening up of the womb

Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    So you're saying the source is Aramaic? (Maybe you've read "Words on Fire"... muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_american_folklore/v122/…) It's definitely a creative suggestion, but not very likely to be accurate. For one thing, "peter rechem" refers specifically to the first issue of the womb. "Yoledes" (or its Aramaic counterpart) would have been a much more appropriate term.
    – Dave
    Mar 1, 2011 at 20:20
  • 2
    "kimpet" means childbirth. So your guess is unlikely.
    – jake
    Mar 1, 2011 at 20:32
  • @yaavetz - in which language? It does not sound like a 'native' yiddish word.
    – Dave
    Mar 1, 2011 at 20:51
  • 1
    indeed, the etymology I offered is spurious. here is the wiktionary entry for kimpeturin, en.wiktionary.org/wiki/…, which comes from kimpet.
    – josh waxman
    Mar 1, 2011 at 21:26
2

Thanks to yaavetz and Google, I have discovered that the source is the German and/or Yiddish "Kindbett" -- the bed upon which a woman who has just given birth convalesces.

Improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .