Definition

1. Noun:
   • A woman employed to breastfeed and care for another woman's infant: A "wet nurse" is a woman who is hired to feed a baby with her own breast milk and typically provide general care, historically common when a mother was unable or chose not to nurse her child.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • In the 19th century, affluent families often employed a wet nurse for their newborns.
  • The mother's illness meant they had to find a reliable wet nurse for the baby.

Advanced Usage

• The role of the wet nurse has largely disappeared in many societies with the advent of infant formula, but the term remains in historical and anthropological contexts.
• The concept can be discussed in studies of class, gender, and the history of childcare.

Variants and Related Words

• To wet-nurse (verb, less common): The act of serving as a wet nurse.
  • She was forced to wet-nurse the landlord's child.
• Dry nurse (noun, historical): A nurse who cared for an infant but did not breastfeed it.

Synonyms

• Nurse (in the specific, historical sense of a breastfeeding caretaker).
• Foster-nurse (archaic).

Notes on Meaning

• The term is specific and historical. In modern contexts, "nanny" or "baby nurse" are more common terms for a childcare provider, but these do not imply breastfeeding.
• The practice highlights historical solutions to infant feeding and maternal health issues.

Noun

1. a woman hired to suckle a child of someone else