birthright citizenship

[burth-rahyt sit-uh-zuhn-ship]

noun

1. the practice of automatically granting citizenship to a child born in a particular country, regardless of the citizenship status of the parent or parents.

   an end to birthright citizenship.

2. the state of having such citizenship.

   to grant birthright citizenship to the child of new immigrants.

Word History and Origins

Origin of birthright citizenship¹

First recorded in 1845–50

Example Sentences

By the time I reached formal adulthood and arrived in September 1976 as a student at Yale College—on my 18th birthday, as it happened—I had decided to devote my life to studying and serving the generous nation that had given me birthright citizenship and the epic national document that had codified that gift.

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Ironically, equal birthright citizenship has recently come under attack by those who say they aim to “Make America Great Again.”

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Bingham and his fellow Lincolnian visionaries’ grand idea was not merely birthright citizenship but equal birthright citizenship under the flag.

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Though I can never repay the priceless gift of equal birthright citizenship that I received long ago, I have tried over the years, and I am trying again today, to sing the song of our Constitution.

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Sixty-seven years ago this month, at the very moment of my birth in Ann Arbor, Mich., I received an extraordinary birthday present from the American people: the gift of birthright citizenship.

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