quickening
noun
Simple meaning
The stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kwikuhningSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkwɪkənɪŋ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus
The first noticeable movements of a foetus during pregnancy, or the period when this occurs.
The action of bringing someone or something to life.
Stimulation, excitement (of a feeling, emotion etc.).
An increase of speed.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus
Used this way, quickening is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use quickening
- “The quickening of seed that will become ripe grain.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.