birth
nounadjectiveverbnouncommon in dialogue
- United States//bɜɹθ//
- Australia//bɜːθ//
- Australia//bɜːð//
The process of childbearing; the beginning of life; the emergence of a human baby or other viviparous animal offspring from the mother's body into the environment.
noun
- 1
The process of childbearing; the beginning of life; the emergence of a human baby or other viviparous animal offspring from the mother's body into the environment.
- 2
An instance of childbirth.
Intersex babies account for roughly one per cent of all births.
In Greece a child was given its name on the seventh or tenth day after birth.
- 3
A beginning or start; a point of origin.
the birth of an empire
- 4
The circumstances of one's background, ancestry, or upbringing.
He was of noble birth, but fortune had not favored him.
without reference to birth, but solely for their qualifications
Lucy […] had no fortune, which, though a minor evil, was an evil; and she had no birth, in the high-life sense of the word, which was a greater evil.
- 5
That which is born.
That poets are far rarer births than kings.
Others hatch their eggs and tend the birth till it is able to shift for itself.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *bʰértisder. Proto-Germanic *burþiz Old Norse burðrbor. Middle English birthe English birth From Middle English birthe (1250), from earlier burthe, burde, from Old Norse burðr, byrd (Old Swedish byrth, Swedish börd), replacing Old English ġebyrd (rare variant byrþ), equivalent to bear + -th (thus a piecewise doublet of berth). The Old Norse is from Proto-Germanic *burdiz (compare Old Frisian berde, berd); Old English ġebyrd is from prefixed *gaburþiz (compare Dutch geboorte, German Geburt), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰŕ̥tis (compare Latin fors (“luck”), Old Irish brith), from *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”). More at bear.
adjective
- 1
A familial relationship established by childbirth.
Her birth father left when she was a baby; she was raised by her mother and stepfather.
verb
- 1
To bear or give birth to (a child).
I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!
Kelly: Is it true we have a pod containing a baby krogan down in the cargo hold? Shepard: Not a baby. He's a full-grown super soldier ready for combat. Kelly: Please be careful if you decide to... err... birth him? His personality is completely unknown.
- 2
figurativeTo produce, give rise to.
Biological evolution created a human mind that enabled cultural evolution, which now outpaces and outclasses the force that birthed it.
Etymology
From Middle English birthen, birðen, from the noun (see above).
noun
- 1
Variant of berthobsoleteObsolete spelling of berth.
He vvas a Surgeon, and they called him Doctor; but he vvas not employed in the Sloop as a Surgeon, but vvas going to Berbadoes to get a Birth, as the Sailors call it.
Tho' vve vvere again got near our harbour by three in the afternoon, yet it ſeemed to require a full hour or more, before vve could come to our former place of anchoring, or birth, as the captain called it.
[Y]ou have got a good vvarm birth here; but vve ſhall beat up your quarters. Here, Lucy, Moll, come to the fire, and dry your trumpery.
Passengers their births are clapt in, / Some to grumble, some to spew. / 'Hey day! call you that a cabin? / Why 'tis hardly three feet square; / Not enough to stow Queen Mab in— / Who the deuce can harbour there?'
Etymology
See berth.
Forms
- plural
- births
- past tense
- birthed
- past participle
- birthed
- present participle
- birthing
- third person singular
- births
birth · The process of childbearing; the beginning of life; the emergence of a human baby or other viviparous animal offspring from the mother's body into…
birthday · The anniversary of the day on which someone is born.birthmark · A mark on the skin formed before birth.birthplace · The location where a person or an animal was born.