birth

[ burth ]

noun

1. an act or instance of being born:

   the day of his birth.

2. the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring; childbirth; parturition:

   a difficult birth.

3. lineage; extraction; descent:

   of Grecian birth.

   Synonyms: family, blood, line, ancestry, parentage

4. high or noble lineage:

   to be foolishly vain about one's birth.

5. natural heritage:

   a musician by birth.

6. any coming into existence; origin; beginning:

   the birth of Protestantism; the birth of an idea.

   Synonyms: inauguration, genesis, inception, commencement, start

7. Archaic. something that is born.

verb (used with object)

, Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S.

1. to give birth to.
2. to assist in giving birth; act as midwife for.

birth

/ bɜːθ /

noun

1. the process of bearing young; parturition; childbirth natal
2. the act or fact of being born; nativity
3. the coming into existence of something; origin
4. ancestry; lineage

   of high birth

5. noble ancestry

   a man of birth

6. natural or inherited talent

   an artist by birth

7. archaic.
   the offspring or young born at a particular time or of a particular mother
8. give birth
   1. to bear (offspring)
   2. to produce, originate, or create (an idea, plan, etc)

verb

1. to bear or bring forth (a child)

birth

/ bûrth /

Noun

1. The emergence and separation of offspring from the body of its mother, seen in all mammals except monotremes.

Adjective

1. Present at birth, as a defect in a bodily structure.

Other Words From

• multi·birth noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of birth¹

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English byrthe, from Scandinavian; compare Old Swedish byrth; cognate with Old English gebyrd, Old High German giburt, Gothic gabaurths; bear ¹( def ), -th ¹( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of birth¹

C12: from Old Norse byrth ; related to Gothic gabaurths , Old Swedish byrdh , Old High German berd child; see bear ¹, bairn

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. give birth to,
   1. to bear (a child).
   2. to initiate; originate:

      Her hobby gave birth to a successful business.

More idioms and phrases containing birth

see give birth to .

Example Sentences

Indeed, every teacher is expected to be a Muslim by birth or conversion.

From The Daily Beast

Women are more likely to recover sooner from birth and less likely to experience post-partum depression.

From The Daily Beast

Advanced maternal age dramatically increases the risk of maternal mortality as well as birth defects like Down Syndrome.

From The Daily Beast

Her focus would be on the three months, January through March 1965, that gave birth to the Voting Rights Act.

From The Daily Beast

Nothing much to use in cleaning up the baby and his mother after the birth, no place to dispose of the placenta.

From The Daily Beast

A native of Haarlem on Zandam, the date of her birth being unknown.

From Project Gutenberg

Though by birth duke of St. Cloud, he preferred the ecclesiastical state to political distinction.

From Project Gutenberg

Two or three more infant deaths intervened before the birth of Marcella.

From Project Gutenberg

But that is past; and I feel, that could birth give dignity, my ancestors of Nassau reigned in this very palace!

From Project Gutenberg

This is an instance of Inclusion as to the men, of Exclusion and Concurrence as to date of birth and death.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dawn
• emergence
• opening
• origin