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

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

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.

Other Word Forms

• multibirth 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.

see give birth to.

Example Sentences

But evidence does show that physical and psychological strain — the kind people can suffer while detained — threatens the health of a pregnancy and can mean greater risk of preterm birth.

Read more on Salon

"It was likely that there was at least a significant number of children who had not used their real date of birth when signing up to YouTube," ASA said.

Read more on BBC

The couple unveiled the undertaking with the birth of their first child, framing its purpose as a responsibility to improve life for the next generation by thinking big and investing for the long term.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That also means fewer babies, contributing to a shrinking population that has prompted the country to offer child care subsidies to incentivize births.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Besides delayed introduction of allergenic foods, other risk factors include cesarean section births and antibiotic exposure, according to Hill.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• beginning 
• childbirth 
• creation 
• delivery