Note 281 — V
Reading edition
[Incorrect: the ‘mid-wife’ is etymologically she that is with (old English mid) a woman to help her in her hour of need, like German bei-frau, Spanish co-madre, Icelandic naer-kona, “near-woman”, Latin ob-stetrix, “by-stander”, all words for the lying-in nurse. Compare German mit-bruder, a comrade.]