firstborn
AmericanOther Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of firstborn
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at first, born
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The track finds mother and daughter writing to each other about their relationship, reconciling the effects Madonna’s fame had on her firstborn child.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
The couple discovered their firstborn, Raegan, was deaf when she was 2 years old.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
"We came here from Ukraine, and Matilda was our firstborn here in Australia," he said earlier this week.
From Barron's ● Dec. 18, 2025
"I always had this thing that death was on my shoulder, 24/7. My dogs, as a kid. My mum. My firstborn."
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2025
The young mother loved her firstborn son deeply, Kunti said, but she was unmarried and couldn’t keep him.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
While not deterministic — elite firstborns like John McEnroe and Novak Djokovic remain towering counter-examples, and both had younger siblings that played professionally — the later-born tilt repeats across the athletic landscape.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Barely two years in, Maye’s the shiniest star in a merciless sports metropolis—and he’s one Sunday victory from all the local Bradys naming their future firstborns Drake.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
Indeed, firstborns are more likely to be perfectionists than younger siblings.
From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2021
And John Richter and his D.C. crew, who through breakups and firstborns always gathered around the same candlelit tables.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 24, 2020
The lineage of Atlas extended in a grand succession of generations, and his kingdom was ruled in succession by the firstborns.
From History of the Incas by Sir Clements R. (Clements Robert) Markham
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
