born

¹ American  

[bawrn] / bɔrn /

adjective

1. brought forth by birth.

2. possessing from birth the quality, circumstances, or character stated.

   a born musician; a born fool.

3. native to the locale stated; immigrated to the present place from the locale stated.

   a German-born scientist; a Chicago-born New Yorker.

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verb

1. a past participle of bear.

idioms

1. born yesterday, naive; inexperienced.

   You can't fool me with that old trick—I wasn't born yesterday.

Born ² American  

[bawrn] / bɔrn /

noun

1. Max, 1882–1970, German physicist: Nobel Prize 1954.

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born ¹ British  

/ bɔːn /

verb

1. the past participle (in most passive uses) of bear 1

2. is not gullible or foolish

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adjective

1. possessing or appearing to have possessed certain qualities from birth

   a born musician

2. 1. being at birth in a particular social status or other condition as specified

      ignobly born

   2. ( in combination )

      lowborn

3. informal so far in one's life

Born ² British  

/ bɔːn /

noun

1. Max . 1882–1970, British nuclear physicist, born in Germany, noted for his fundamental contribution to quantum mechanics: Nobel prize for physics 1954

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born More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing born

• in all one's born days
• not born yesterday
• to the manner born

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Usage

Care should be taken not to use born where borne is intended: he had borne (not born ) his ordeal with great courage ; the following points should be borne in mind

Commonly Confused

Since the latter part of the 18th century, a distinction has been made between born and borne as past participles of the verb bear1 . Borne is the past participle in all senses that do not refer to physical birth: The wheatfields have borne abundantly this year. Judges have always borne a burden of responsibility. Borne is also the participle when the sense is “to bring forth (young)” and the focus is on the mother rather than on the child. In such cases, borne is preceded by a form of have or followed by by: Anna had borne a son the previous year. Two children borne by her earlier were already grown. When the focus is on the offspring or on something brought forth as if by birth, born is the standard spelling, and it occurs only in passive constructions: My friend was born in Ohio. No children have been born at the South Pole. A strange desire was born of the tragic experience. Born is also an adjective meaning “by birth,” “innate,” or “native”: born free; a born troublemaker; Mexican-born.

Other Word Forms

• preborn adjective
• self-born adjective

Etymology

Origin of born

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English boren (past participle of beran “to give birth”), equivalent to bor- past participle stem + -en past participle suffix; bear ¹, -en ³

Example Sentences

I feel like in the old days, well before I was born, we were told who our movie stars were.

From Los Angeles Times

The last thing I looked at was the sign above the front door that read: “Gigi and Ump’s House: Established April 25, 2018” — the day our first grandchild was born.

From Los Angeles Times

Because foreign-born women tend to have more babies than U.S.-born women, the decline in projected immigration flows has also weighed on the CBO’s forecasts for the fertility rate.

From The Wall Street Journal

Jay Stein was born to Samuel and Sylvia Stein in New York on June 17, 1937, and grew up mostly in Los Angeles.

From The Wall Street Journal

The US charged the 37-year-old, who was born in south-east China, last October with running internet scams from Cambodia that it said had stolen billions in cryptocurrency.

From BBC