GC: n

S: JHM – https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/cesarean-section (last access: 25 February 2025); MAYO – https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/c-section/about/pac-20393655 (last access: 25 February 2025).

N: 1. – cesarean, alternative spelling of caesarian (see also æ (1)).
“Caesarean”: 1923, shortening of Caesarian section (1610s); supposedly from Caius Julius Caesar, who was said to have been delivered surgically, thus legend traces his cognomen to Latin caesus past participle of caedere “to cut”.
But if this is the etymology of the name, it was likely an ancestor who was so born (Caesar’s mother lived to see his triumphs and such operations would have been fatal to the woman in ancient times). And Pliny, 1st century AD, derives his cognomen from caesaries ”head of hair,” because the future dictator was born with a full one. Caesarian section may come directly from caesus.

– “section”: late 14 century, “intersection of two straight lines; division of a scale;” from Old French section or directly from Latin sectionem “a cutting, cutting off, division,” noun of action from past participle stem of secare ”to cut”.

• The term can be written with different spellings: “Cesarean section”, “Caesarean section”, “Caesarian section” or with the abbreviation “C-section”, all either with capital letter “C” or lower case letter “c”.
• The term “Caesarean section” might be an eponym, deriving from Gaius Julius Caesar.
• CS is the abbreviation for Cesarean section in the field of Gynaecology.

2. cesarean section. Also known as: C-section, caesarian section.

• cesarean section, surgical removal of a fetus from the uterus through an abdominal incision.
• Little is known of either the origin of the term or the history of the procedure. According to ancient sources, whose veracity has been challenged, the procedure takes its name from a branch of the ancient Roman family of the Julii whose cognomen, Caesar (Latin caedere, “to cut”), originated from a birth by this means. Roman law (Lex Caesarea) mandated the cutting out from the womb a child whose mother had died during labour. A common misperception holds that Julius Caesar himself was born in this fashion. However, since Caesar’s mother, Aurelia, is believed to have been alive when he was a grown man, it is widely held that he could not have been born in this way. The law was followed initially to comply with Roman ritual and religious custom, which forbade the burial of pregnant women, but the procedure was later pursued specifically in an attempt to save the child’s life.

3. The first documented Cesarean section on a living woman was performed in 1610; she died 25 days after the surgery. Abdominal delivery was subsequently tried in many ways and under many conditions, but it almost invariably resulted in the death of the mother from sepsis (infection) or hemorrhage (bleeding). Even in the first half of the 19th century, the recorded mortality was about 75 percent, and fetal craniotomy — in which the life of the child is sacrificed to save that of the mother — was usually preferred. Eventually, however, improvements in surgical techniques, antibiotics, and blood transfusion and antiseptic procedures so reduced the mortality that Cesarean section came to be frequently performed as an alternative to normal childbirth. In modern obstetrical care, Cesarean section usually is performed when the life of either the mother or the child would be endangered by attempting normal delivery.

4. Medical uses

In modern obstetrical care, cesarean section usually is performed when the life of either the mother or the child would be endangered by attempting normal delivery. The medical decision is based on physical examination, special tests, and patient history. The examination includes consideration of any diseases the mother may have had in the past and disorders that may have arisen because of pregnancy. Special tests that might be performed include fetal scalp blood analysis and fetal heart rate monitoring. Common indications for cesarean section include obstructed labour, failure of labour to progress, placenta praevia (development of the placenta in an abnormally low position near the cervix), fetal distress, gestational diabetes mellitus, and improper positioning of the fetus for delivery. In addition, cesarean section is often used if the birth canal is too small for normal delivery. Sometimes when a woman has had a child by cesarean section, any children born after the first cesarean section are also delivered by that method, but vaginal delivery is often possible.

5. Obstetric Surgery: caesarean section, caesarean, cesarean section, C-section, abdominal delivery.

S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Cesarean+section, https://www.etymonline.com/word/caesarian (last access: 25 February 2025); Omniglot – https://www.omniglot.com/bloggle/?p=15356 (last access: 25 February 2025); COSNAUTAS (last access: 21 October 2016). 2 to 4. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/science/cesarean-section (last access: 25 February 2025). 5. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=Cesarean+section&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 25 February 2025).

OV: Caesarean section

S: NHS – https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/caesarean-section/ (last access: 25 February 2025); Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Cesarean+section, https://www.etymonline.com/word/caesarian (last access: 25 February 2025); TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=Cesarean+section&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 25 February 2025).

SYN: C-section, abdominal delivery.

S: TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=Cesarean+section&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 25 February 2025)

CR: abortion, afterpains, fetus, pregnancy.