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.

---

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)

---

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.

---

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

birth More Idioms  

1. see give birth to.

---

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; cf. bear ¹ ( def. ), -th ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

An MP whose own experience of giving birth was part of the biggest review of maternity failings in NHS history has been appointed as the government's first maternity adviser.

From BBC • May 19, 2026

This is a rare condition present at birth where arteries in the brain are clustered tightly together, putting them at high risk of rupture.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026

At an initial hearing in December, El Hishri sat impassively as he confirmed his name and date of birth before the judging panel of three women.

From Barron's • May 19, 2026

An accused person gives birth at the arraignment.

From MarketWatch • May 18, 2026

“I need birth dates, death dates, marriage dates...Facts, Comfort, not opinions. If everybody reported the news with an opinion, who could we believe?”

From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

Related Words

• beginning
• childbirth
• creation
• delivery