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.

---

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.

---

born ¹ British  

/ bɔːn /

verb

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

2. is not gullible or foolish

---

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

---

born More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing born

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

---

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

Babies born between 2003 and 2006 encountered far more "forever chemicals" in the womb than researchers once recognized, according to a study published in Environmental Science & Technology.

From Science Daily

Sugar rationing in the UK ended in September 1953, creating a natural comparison between children born before and after that policy change.

From Science Daily

Vera, who was born and raised in northeast Los Angeles, grew up watching her dad and cousins fixing up their cars in the lowrider scene of 1990s Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times

At the Munich Security Conference this month, Rubio stated that the “entire romance of the cowboy archetype that became synonymous with the American West” was “born in Spain.”

From Los Angeles Times

Thus, while his mother was born in Korea, he was raised almost entirely within a Black cultural space.

From Los Angeles Times