entbinden

== German == === Etymology === From Middle High German entbinden, enbinden, from Old High German intbintan, from Proto-Germanic *andabindaną. Cognate with English unbind, Dutch ontbinden. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɛntˈbɪn.dən/ === Verb === entbinden (class 3 strong, third-person singular present entbindet, past tense entband, past participle entbunden, past subjunctive entbände, auxiliary haben) (transitive, dated, often passive voice) to see a woman through childbirth; to deliver Synonym: Geburtshilfe leisten (intransitive) to give birth; referring to labour, excluding pregnancy Synonym: gebären (includes pregnancy) (transitive, still somewhat nonstandard) to give birth to a child Synonyms: gebären, zur Welt bringen (transitive) to free (someone) from a duty; to release; to exempt [with accusative ‘someone’ and von (+ dative) ‘from a duty’] Synonyms: befreien, freistellen (transitive) to dismiss, to discharge [with accusative ‘someone’, along with von (+ dative) or genitive ‘from a job or office’] Synonyms: entheben, entlassen, (euphemistic) freistellen ==== Usage notes ==== With regard to childbirth, the subject of entbinden was originally the doctor or midwife and the object was the mother (sense 1). This use is now dated, the mother being predominantly construed as the subject (sense 2). However, this construction is still usually intransitive (with no object at all). Transitive use with the child as the object is fairly current, but cannot yet be considered perfectly standard (sense 3). ==== Conjugation ==== ==== Derived terms ==== Entbinden Entbinder Entbindung === Further reading === “entbinden” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache “entbinden” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon “entbinden” in Duden online “entbinden” in OpenThesaurus.de