Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Having given birth to one or more viable children: The term "parous" is a medical and biological adjective used to describe a female (typically a human or mammal) who has borne one or more offspring that were capable of living. It specifically refers to the state of having completed a pregnancy resulting in a live birth.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The study compared bone density in nulliparous and parous women. (The research examined differences in bone density between women who had never given birth and women who had given birth.)
  • A parous uterus often has certain anatomical characteristics distinct from a nulliparous one. (A uterus that has carried a pregnancy to term frequently has specific physical features different from one that has not.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is most commonly used in formal, technical contexts such as medical literature, demography, epidemiology, and biology. It is rarely used in everyday conversation.
• It is often used in contrast with its antonym, "nulliparous" (having never given birth to a viable child).
• "Parity" is the related noun form, referring to the number of times a female has given birth to viable offspring. For example, a woman with two children is of parity 2.

Variants and Related Words

• Nulliparous (adj): Having never given birth to a viable child.
• Primiparous (adj): Having given birth once to a viable child.
• Multiparous (adj): Having given birth two or more times to viable children.
• Parity (n): The state or fact of having borne offspring; also refers to the number of viable births a woman has had.

Synonyms

• Gravida (when followed by a number, e.g., gravida 2): A pregnant woman; in medical history, it can indicate the number of pregnancies, but not necessarily viable births. Note: This is related but not a perfect synonym, as "parous" specifies the outcome (a viable birth).
• (Descriptive phrase): Having delivered a child.

Antonyms

• Nulliparous: Having never given birth to a viable child.

Adjective

1. having given birth to one or more viable children