birth certificate

American  

noun

1. an official form recording the birth of a baby and containing pertinent data, as name, sex, date, place, and parents.

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birth certificate British  

noun

1. an official form giving details of the time and place of a person's birth, and his or her name, sex, mother's name and (usually) father's name

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Etymology

Origin of birth certificate

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Until now, a valid birth certificate had been sufficient to establish a person’s U.S. citizenship.

From Los Angeles Times

“The question of proof of citizenship status would become exceptionally complicated, as the primary proof of citizenship for most Americans is their birth certificate,” Lang said.

From Salon

The Center for American Progress found that over 69 million female citizens over 15 do not have a birth certificate that matches their legal name because of a name change or hyphenation.

From Salon

First, people registering to vote would be asked to show proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate or naturalization document.

From The Wall Street Journal

As with Abu Hamdan’s voice patterns, the arbiter of citizenship is not a passport, ID card or birth certificate but a set of behaviors and attributes classified by a fixed system.

From Salon