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Glite Dictionary
wet nurse

wet nurse

3 6.8
A woman who feeds another person's baby with her milk and cares for the baby
  • noun
  • /wɛt nɜrs/
translation icon : nodriza
  • In the past, many mothers employed a wet nurse to ensure their children received adequate nutrition.
  • hiring a wet nurse
  • choose a wet nurse
  • wet nurse for her child

Examples

  • The wet nurse was paid more for boy babies than for girl babies.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • After struggling to breastfeed, she decided to hire a wet nurse to care for her newborn.

  • We must call a wet nurse.

    Tulip Fever (2017)

  • The wet nurse already came.

    Tulip Fever (2017)

  • "We will be able to hire a wet nurse here unless things have changed since my last visit," he said.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Guevara gives seven conditions the mother must review while hiring a wet nurse.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Because a wet nurse was often a woman who lived out of the home and, in many cases, out of town, the wet nurse often raised the child for the first two or three years.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Another mechanism was sending out children to nurse with wet nurses, and the death rate of wet nurse children was enormously high.

  • Historically, if a woman had problems with breastfeeding—or did not want to breastfeed—a wet nurse was secured.

    Academic text (2007)

  • The wet nurse arrived early in the morning to help with the infant while the mother rested.

Synonyms

wetnurse
vswet nurse
  • Archaic
9.9

A woman who breastfeeds and cares for someone else's baby

can be any woman who breastfeeds without implying formal employment
wet-nurse
vswet nurse
  • Archaic
9.2

A woman who feeds another person's baby with her own milk

is the same meaning but uses the modern nonhyphenated written form
amah
vswet nurse
  • Archaic
9.9

A woman who breastfeeds and cares for another family's baby in the home

applies broadly and is not limited to any cultural or regional setting

Surface Forms

wet nurse singular
wet nurses plural

Morphology

wet + nurse

The compound is motivated by 'nurse' (to feed an infant) combined with 'wet' in the historical sense of lactating, so there is a semantic link to breastfeeding. However, the adjective 'wet' rarely carries the specific meaning 'lactating' for B1 learners, so the exact role (a woman who breastfeeds another's child) is not fully predictable without prior exposure or cultural knowledge.

Etymology

Wet nurse comes from the simple, literal image of a woman who is wet, meaning 'with milk', and a nurse who feeds a baby that is not her own. So, the phrase means 'a woman who breastfeeds and cares for another person's child'.