birthplace

American  

[burth-pleys] / ˈbɜrθˌpleɪs /

noun

1. place of birth or origin.

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birthplace British  

/ ˈbɜːθˌpleɪs /

noun

1. the place where someone was born or where something originated

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Etymology

Origin of birthplace

First recorded in 1600–10; birth + place

Explanation

The city or country where someone is born is their birthplace. If you move to Atlanta, Georgia, you can tell your friends you live in the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr. You'll often find the word birthplace describing the origin of a famous person, whether you're visiting the birthplace of Elvis Presley in Mississippi or reading about Tuskegee, Alabama, the birthplace of Rosa Parks. Birthplace also shows up on official documents like passport applications, which require you to prove your birthplace by submitting a birth certificate. The Middle English version of this word was birthstede, from stede, or "place."

Example Sentences

It is also the birthplace of St Augustine, and Leo XIV is the first pontiff from the order to follow his teachings.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

The roughly 60-mile journey adds to the hundreds of miles she’s already traveled from her birthplace in Plumas County, in the far northeastern corner of California.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026

How appropriate that the April 23-25 draft will be held for the first time in Pittsburgh, birthplace of the Steel Curtain.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026

In nine years since she relocated to Ghana, she has only returned to her birthplace in the United States once.

From Barron's • Mar. 10, 2026

Ensenada, Lupita’s birthplace, was set around a beautiful, half-moon-shaped harbor and ringed with hills that were almost always dry and brown.

From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty