birth
an act or instance of being born: the day of his birth.
the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring; childbirth; parturition: a difficult birth.
lineage; extraction; descent: of Grecian birth.
high or noble lineage: to be foolishly vain about one's birth.
natural heritage: a musician by birth.
any coming into existence; origin; beginning: the birth of Protestantism; the birth of an idea.
Archaic. something that is born.
to give birth to.
to assist in giving birth; act as midwife for.
Idioms about birth
give birth to,
to bear (a child).
to initiate; originate: Her hobby gave birth to a successful business.
Origin of birth
1Other words for birth
| 3 | parentage, ancestry, line, blood, family |
| 6 | start, commencement, inception, genesis; launching, inauguration |
Other words from birth
- mul·ti·birth, noun
Words that may be confused with birth
- berth, birth
Words Nearby birth
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use birth in a sentence
To be safe, I always parked at the other end of the valley and entered the wetland from there, giving the cabin a wide birth.
How to hunt for star-nosed moles (and their holes) | Kenneth Catania | September 15, 2020 | Popular-ScienceWe went through birth pain through Civil Rights in the 60s, and we’re going through it again now.
Though she was “assigned the male sex at birth,” Carlos knew early in her life that she was a girl, and was baffled that others couldn’t see that.
Trans musician celebrated in new biography | Terri Schlichenmeyer | September 11, 2020 | Washington BladeAll you need is identification showing your date of birth and that you live in the state.
It’s time to check your voter registration—here’s how | John Kennedy | September 10, 2020 | Popular-SciencePerhaps our potential to think, learn and reason was not set from birth, he proposed.
A secret of science: Mistakes boost understanding | Rachel Kehoe | September 10, 2020 | Science News For Students
Indeed, every teacher is expected to be a Muslim by birth or conversion.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President | Pierre Assouline | January 9, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTWomen are more likely to recover sooner from birth and less likely to experience post-partum depression.
How Good Dads Can Change the World | Gary Barker, PhD, Michael Kaufman | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTAdvanced maternal age dramatically increases the risk of maternal mortality as well as birth defects like Down Syndrome.
Her focus would be on the three months, January through March 1965, that gave birth to the Voting Rights Act.
Dr. King Goes to Hollywood: The Flawed History of ‘Selma’ | Gary May | January 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTNothing much to use in cleaning up the baby and his mother after the birth, no place to dispose of the placenta.
A native of Haarlem on Zandam, the date of her birth being unknown.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D. | Clara Erskine ClementThough by birth duke of St. Cloud, he preferred the ecclesiastical state to political distinction.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellTwo or three more infant deaths intervened before the birth of Marcella.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterBut that is past; and I feel, that could birth give dignity, my ancestors of Nassau reigned in this very palace!
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterThis is an instance of Inclusion as to the men, of Exclusion and Concurrence as to date of birth and death.
Assimilative Memory | Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
British Dictionary definitions for birth
/ (bɜːθ) /
the process of bearing young; parturition; childbirth: Related adjective: natal
the act or fact of being born; nativity
the coming into existence of something; origin
ancestry; lineage: of high birth
noble ancestry: a man of birth
natural or inherited talent: an artist by birth
archaic the offspring or young born at a particular time or of a particular mother
give birth
to bear (offspring)
to produce, originate, or create (an idea, plan, etc)
to bear or bring forth (a child)
Origin of birth
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for birth
[ bûrth ]
The emergence and separation of offspring from the body of its mother, seen in all mammals except monotremes.
Present at birth, as a defect in a bodily structure.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with birth
see give birth to.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Browse