birth
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
- (UK) enPR: bûth, IPA(key): /bɜːθ/, verb also: IPA(key): /bɜːð/
- (US) enPR: bûrth, IPA(key): /bɝθ/, verb also: IPA(key): /bɝð/
Audio (US) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)θ
- Homophone: berth
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English birthe (1250), from earlier burthe, burde,[1] from Old Norse burðr, byrd[2] (Old Swedish byrth, Swedish börd), replacing Old English ġebyrd (rare variant byrþ)[3], equivalent to bear + -th (compare also 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 *bʰr̥tis (compare Latin fors (“luck”), Old Irish brith), from *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”). More at bear.
NounEdit
birth (countable and uncountable, plural births)
- (uncountable) The process of childbearing; the beginning of life.
- (countable) An instance of childbirth.
- Intersex babies account for roughly one per cent of all births.
- (countable) A beginning or start; a point of origin.
- the birth of an empire
- (uncountable) The circumstances of one's background, ancestry, or upbringing.
- He was of noble birth, but fortune had not favored him.
- 1843, William H. Prescott, History Of The Conquest Of Mexico And History Of The Conquest Of Peru[1], The Modern Library, page 42:
- without reference to birth, but solely for their qualifications
- 1861, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage:
- 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.
- That which is born.
- 1692, Ben Jonson, “Epigrams”, in The Works of Ben Jonson[2], page 288:
- That poets are far rarer births than kings.
- 1761, Joseph Addison, The Works of Joseph Addison[3], volume 3, John Baskerville, page 49:
- Others hatch their eggs and tend the birth till it is able to shift for itself.
- Misspelling of berth.
- 1816, [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Mansfield Park, second edition, volume III, London: […] J[ohn] Murray, […], page 151:
- “[…] She lays close to the Endymion, between her and the Cleopatra, just to the eastward of the sheer hulk.” “Ha!” cried William, “that’s just where I should have put her myself. It’s the best birth at Spithead. […]”
AntonymsEdit
- (beginning of life): death
Derived termsEdit
- birth-assigned
- birth canal
- birth cert
- birth-certificate
- birth certificate
- birth chair
- birth chart
- birth control glasses
- birth date
- birth defect
- birth father
- birth name
- birth pang
- birth plan
- birth sex
- birth stool
- birth-tongue
- birth tongue
- birth tray
- birth weight
- coffin birth
- cross-birth
- crude birth rate
- date of birth
- fraternal birth order effect
- fraternal birth-order effect
- giving birth
- live birth
- lotus birth
- multiple birth
- natural birth
- partial-birth abortion
- premature birth
- pro-birth
- still-birth
- traditional birth attendant
- vaginal birth
- watch-birth
- water birth
- wrongful birth
TranslationsEdit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
AdjectiveEdit
birth (not comparable)
- A familial relationship established by childbirth.
- Her birth father left when she was a baby; she was raised by her mother and stepfather.
SynonymsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From Middle English birthen, birðen, from the noun (see above).
VerbEdit
birth (third-person singular simple present births, present participle birthing, simple past and past participle birthed)
- (transitive) To bear or give birth to (a child).
- 1939, Sidney Howard, Ben Hecht, Jo Swerling, John Van Druten, Oliver H.P. Garrett, Gone with the Wind (film):
- I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!
- 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2:
- 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.
- 2023 March 5, Jonathan Bouquet, “May I have a word about… being stuck in a permacrisis”, in The Observer[4], →ISSN:
- She cites some recent examples from the papers: “I birthed two babies in rapid succession”; Beyoncé “birthed her twins”; while somewhere else in the same paper a woman proudly proclaimed: “I birthed a calf!”. She ends: “My objection to the American usage is that it seems to stress rather crudely the muscular process of bringing forth a baby, whereas the graceful British English term ‘to give birth to’ is much more dignified!”
- (transitive, figuratively) To produce, give rise to.
Usage notesEdit
- The term give birth (to) is much more common, especially in literal use.
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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ReferencesEdit
AlbanianEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From birë (“hole”).
NounEdit
birth m (indefinite plural birthe, definite singular birthi, definite plural birthat)
Related termsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
Diminutive -th lengthening of bir (“son”).
NounEdit
birth m (indefinite plural birthe, definite singular birthi, definite plural birthat)