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firstborn

[furst-bawrn]
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adjective
  1. first in the order of birth; eldest.
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noun
  1. a firstborn child.
  2. a first result or product.
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Origin of firstborn

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at first, born
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

earlierolderelderpensionerseniorancientgrandmotherheadmatriarchpatriarchgrandfatheroldsterold-timerdoyendoyennefirstformerlowerprecedingprior

Examples from the Web for first-born

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • At last she came to entertain a very unfavourable opinion of her first-born.

  • To her they were the same in every respect as her first-born.

  • "She had put there your father's first-born son," said Paul.

    A Son of Hagar

    Sir Hall Caine

  • Thus the exterminating angel kills the first-born of the Egyptians.

    The Phantom World

    Augustin Calmet

  • We live today in the midst of miracles as did the first-born of men.

    Balthasar

    Anatole France

British Dictionary definitions for first-born

first-born

adjective
  1. eldest of the children in a family
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noun
  1. the eldest child in a family
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012