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preterm baby

preterm baby

1 3.9
A baby born before 37 weeks of pregnancy
  • noun
  • /ˈpriːtɜrm ˈbeɪbi/
  • Specialized
translation icon : bebé prematuro
  • Preterm babies often face challenges with feeding and weight gain after birth.
  • Mothers of preterm babies

Examples

  • The survival rate for preterm babies has improved significantly due to advances in neonatal care.

  • Preterm babies face drastically different odds depending on where they are born: 90 percent of preterm babies in low-income countries die, while 90 percent of preterm babies in high-income countries survive.

    Blog text (28)
  • And that 1.1 million preterm babies die every year?

    Blog text (2)
  • Better blood transfusions for preterm babies.

    Blog text (30)
  • We also know that babies, these little preterm babies, are extremely at risk for any kind of UH cell damage and oxidative stress.

  • Mothers of preterm babies also showed lower levels of perceived parental competence.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Levels of parental stress and parental competence were compared separately for mothers and fathers between parents of full-term and preterm babies.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Results of new research from the University of Adelaide are a promising step forward in helping to improve the quality of life-saving blood transfusions for preterm babies by reducing the likelihood of adverse inflammatory responses to the blood.

    Blog text (30)
  • The target population of this study was Hebrew-speaking couples (mothers and fathers) whose preterm baby was hospitalized in the NICU of any of three hospitals in Jerusalem during the period of 2000 through 2001.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Preterm babies face drastically different odds depending on where they are born: 90 percent of preterm babies in low-income countries die, while 90 percent of preterm babies in high-income countries survive.

    Blog text (28)

Synonyms

preemie
vspreterm baby
  • Informal
8 8.0

A baby born before 37 weeks of pregnancy

refers exactly to births before 37 weeks without qualifying cases
preterm
vspreterm baby
  • Specialized
6 5.1

A baby born before 37 weeks of pregnancy

is limited to the strict before 37 weeks definition rather than general early birth
premature baby
vspreterm baby
5 3.1

A baby who is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy

keeps the same medical timing but prefers infant wording
premie
vspreterm baby
  • Informal
1 8.4

A baby born too early before 37 weeks of pregnancy

omits the repeated synonym and keeps only the timing detail
premature infant
vspreterm baby
1 4.0

A baby born before 37 weeks of pregnancy

has identical meaning but differs only in wording form
preterm infant
vspreterm baby
  • Specialized
1 4.4

A baby who is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy

uses pregnancy wording instead of gestation

Antonyms

4 3.7

A baby born after about 37 to 42 weeks of pregnancy

How Early

preterm baby
  • Specialized
1 3.9
full-term
4 3.7

Surface Forms

preterm baby singular

Morphology

preterm + baby

The meaning of 'preterm baby' is directly compositional: 'preterm' (born before the full term) modifies 'baby', yielding an infant born before 37 weeks. This follows a straightforward adjective + noun pattern and has clear cross‑linguistic equivalents, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer the meaning.

Etymology

Preterm baby comes from pre- meaning 'before' and term meaning the usual end of pregnancy. The picture to remember is a baby arriving before the pregnancy is finished, so it means 'born early' or 'born before 37 weeks'.