Uterine is an adjective meaning 'of the uterus' — the uterus being the organ in a woman, or a female mammal, where a baby grows before it is born. It is a medical word, and it lives almost entirely inside medical writing and doctors' speech.

Uterine is an adjective meaning 'of the uterus'Uterine是形容詞，意思是「子宮的」 — the uterus being the organ in a woman, or a female mammal, where a baby grows before it is bornuterus（子宮）就是女性或雌性哺乳動物體內，寶寶出生前生長的那個器官。It is a medical word這是個醫學用字, and it lives almost entirely inside medical writing and doctors' speech幾乎只出現在醫學文獻和醫生的口語裡。

You meet it fixed to another noun: uterine cancer, uterine lining, uterine wall, uterine contractions, uterine bleeding. It is not used on its own after 'be' — nobody says 'the problem is uterine' in ordinary talk.

You meet it fixed to another noun你會看到它固定接在另一個名詞前面: uterine canceruterine cancer（子宮癌）、uterine liningsuterine lining（子宮內膜）、uterine walluterine wall（子宮壁）、uterine contractionsuterine contractions（子宮收縮）、uterine bleeding uterine bleeding（子宮出血）。It is not used on its own after 'be'它不會單獨接在'be'後面使用 — nobody says 'the problem is uterine' in ordinary talk日常對話裡沒有人會說『the problem is uterine』。

The reason English has this separate adjective is worth understanding. English often keeps a plain noun from one source and takes its adjective from Latin: heart and cardiac, lung and pulmonary, womb/uterus and uterine. That is why the adjective looks unrelated to any everyday word, and why it sounds clinical. Doctors reach for it; patients say 'in the womb' or 'in the uterus'.

The reason English has this separate adjective is worth understanding英文為什麼會有這個獨立的形容詞，是值得了解的。English often keeps a plain noun from one source and takes its adjective from Latin英文常常名詞用一個來源，形容詞卻取自拉丁文: heart and cardiacheart（心臟）配cardiac, lung and pulmonarylung（肺）配pulmonary, womb/uterus and uterinewomb/uterus（子宮）配uterine。That is why the adjective looks unrelated to any everyday word這就是為什麼這個形容詞看起來和任何日常字都沾不上邊, and why it sounds clinical也是為什麼它聽起來這麼臨床。Doctors reach for it醫生會用它; patients say 'in the womb' or 'in the uterus'病人則會說'in the womb'或'in the uterus'。

Say it 'YOO-ter-in' — the last part rhymes with 'in', though you will also hear 'YOO-ter-ine' rhyming with 'wine'.

Say it 'YOO-ter-in'唸法是'YOO-ter-in' — the last part rhymes with 'in'最後一段跟'in'押韻, though you will also hear 'YOO-ter-ine' rhyming with 'wine'不過你也會聽到唸成'YOO-ter-ine'、跟'wine'押韻的唸法。

Though actually, there is a second, much rarer use that surprises people. In old legal and genealogical writing, 'uterine' describes brothers and sisters who share the same mother but have different fathers — uterine siblings, as opposed to 'consanguine' ones who share a father. It comes straight from the Latin sense 'born of the same mother'. You will only see this in law books, family histories, and translations of old documents, but it explains the word's shape.

Though actually不過, there is a second, much rarer use that surprises people還有一個少見很多、會讓人意外的第二種用法。In old legal and genealogical writing在古老的法律和家譜文獻裡, 'uterine' describes brothers and sisters who share the same mother but have different fathers'uterine'用來形容同母異父的兄弟姊妹 — uterine siblingsuterine siblings, as opposed to 'consanguine' ones who share a father相對於同父的'consanguine'。It comes straight from the Latin sense 'born of the same mother'這個意思直接來自拉丁文「同一個母親所生」的意思。You will only see this in law books, family histories, and translations of old documents這只會出現在法律書籍、家族史，還有古代文件的翻譯裡, but it explains the word's shape但這解釋了這個字為什麼長這樣。