English Vocabulary in Use - 15 Birth and death: from cradle to grave

pregnancy

pregnancy

the nine-month period when a woman is expecting a baby

conception

time when sperm and egg meet and a baby starts to form

fertilised

made to start developing into new life

embryo

developing baby

implants

fixes itself

womb / uterus

organ inside the mother where the fertilised egg develops into a baby; uterus is a more medical word than womb

conceive

become pregnant

fertility drugs

drugs that help a woman become pregnant

IVF (in vitro fertilisation)

process that fertilises a woman’s egg in a laboratory; babies that are born this way are sometimes referred to as test tube babies

foetus

what the embryo developing in the uterus are known as from eight weeks onward

placenta

organ connecting the developing baby to the mother and giving it food

goes into labour

goes into the last stage of pregnancy, where the womb starts the process of pushing the baby out of the body

be induced

be helped medically to start the process of labour

give birth

have her baby

midwife

person medically trained to help women when they are giving birth

deliver

help the mother give birth

caesarean section

operation in which the mother’s abdomen and womb are cut open to allow the baby to be removed

ripe old age

living well into old age

late (father)

now dead

pensioner

elderly person, receiving an old age pension from the state

sheltered accommodation

special housing, usually for old people, where care staff also live

doddery

weak and unable to walk well, usually because of old age; informal

gaga

unable to think clearly because of old age; informal and offensive

have all her wits about her

is still able to think and react quickly

dementia

an illness that causes problems with memory loss

coffin

box where the dead person is put

wake

gathering of family and friends after a funeral

will

legal document saying what is to happen to your possessions after your death

ashes

remains of a body after a cremation

mourning

expressing sadness after someone’s death

cremation

service at a place called a crematorium, where a dead body is burnt

scattered

spread around

condolences (formal) / loss (informal)

expressions of sympathy

to pass away, to pass on, to pass over

euphemisms for ‘to die’

to be at death’s door, to be on your last legs

very informal expressions for being close to death

fatalities

dead people

perished

died

slaughtered

violently killed

the deceased

the dead person

to bequeath

to leave something in a will

to inherit

to receive something from someone who has died

(to die) intestate

without having made a will