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

Two Austrian women, who were switched at birth at a hospital in the southern city of Graz have finally met each other 35 years later.

From BBC

While reading itself is a learned skill, research has found that the brain structures connected to literacy begin developing right after birth and continue across the first few years of life.

From Los Angeles Times

But Fifa said investigators obtained original birth certificates of the grandparents, which showed that they were born in countries like Argentina and Spain - all corresponding with the players' birthplaces.

From BBC

At Mount SAC, for instance, classrooms have high-tech mannequins that can be programmed to blink, shriek and simulate a variety of medical conditions, including heart attacks, bleeding, respiratory failure — even giving birth.

From Los Angeles Times

But the ghost of the Iron Lady hangs particularly heavily at this year's annual gathering in Manchester, as activists celebrate 100 years since her birth in 1925.

From BBC

Related Words

• beginning 
• childbirth 
• creation 
• delivery