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• born
  born

  adjective

  brought forth by birth.
• Born
  Born

  noun

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

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; see bear ¹, -en ³

Explanation

When a baby is born, she comes into the world through birth. If you say, "I was born in July," that's the month in which your mother gave birth to you. You can talk about a newly born baby or ask your friend what year she was born. Even ideas or organizations can be described this way: "My book group was born in 2005." If you're a really good bowler, you can also say you were born to do it, or that you're a "born bowling champion." The Old English root of born is boren, the past participle of beran, "to bring, bear, or produce."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

born Born

A woman whose baby was too ill to be born is calling for better awareness of choosing a termination for medical reasons.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

But thank you very much, Nebraska, for Fred Astaire, Johnny Carson and Henry Fonda, who, by the way, was born in Grand Island, where Trump made his cracks Monday about California.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

“Literally everyone born in the 1950s has five or more siblings.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Jackson, born in New York, got his start in music singing gospel before moving to California to perform with the ’70s funk band Mystic Merlin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

“Oh, don’t worry. Nothing horrible. He was born without them.”

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Born July 4, 1924, in Newark, N.J., she grew up near Albany, N.Y., the younger of two daughters of John Merle Saint and the former Eva Marie Rice.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Born on the carnival circuit, the pseudo-sport maintained a here today-gone tomorrow feeling until relatively recently.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

Born in Calgary, having also represented Wales at youth level, Hargreaves cleaned up on the silverware front during his seven seasons in Munich - winning four Bundesliga titles and several German Cups.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Born in 1991, Peña was born years after the Smiths broke up, but was introduced to the group’s catalog at age 5, while his uncle drove him around in a lowrider.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Born in a tiny village in southern Russia in 1894, Nikita Khrushchev grew up with his parents and sister in a wooden hut.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin