birth

American  

[burth] / bɜrθ /

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.

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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.

idioms

1. give birth to,

   1. to bear (a child).

   2. to initiate; originate.

      Her hobby gave birth to a successful business.

birth British  

/ bɜːθ /

noun

1. the process of bearing young; parturition; childbirth

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. 1. to bear (offspring)

   2. to produce, originate, or create (an idea, plan, etc)

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verb

1. to bear or bring forth (a child)

birth Scientific  

/ bûrth /

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

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

birth More Idioms  

1. see give birth to.

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Other Word Forms

• multibirth noun

Etymology

Origin of birth

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. )

Example Sentences

The first epoch spans from birth to about age nine, when a major turning point leads into the adolescent phase.

From Science Daily

A donor match was found which has since allowed him to see his son's first birthday as well as the birth of his second child.

From BBC

That gave birth to fears about a “Sell America” trade that could rock U.S. stocks and bonds, as well as the dollar.

From MarketWatch

“That’s my baby going across the bar on the tray. When someone takes a picture, it’s like a birth certificate,” she says.

From Salon

The research tracked more than 51,000 births and reported that mothers with persistent thyroid hormone imbalance across pregnancy had an increased likelihood of having children with autism.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• beginning
• childbirth
• creation
• delivery