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View synonyms for

birth

[ burth ]

noun

  1. an act or instance of being born:

    the day of his birth.

  2. the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring; childbirth; parturition:

    a difficult birth.

  3. lineage; extraction; descent:

    of Grecian birth.

    Synonyms: , , , ,

  4. high or noble lineage:

    to be foolishly vain about one's birth.

  5. natural heritage:

    a musician by birth.

  6. any coming into existence; origin; beginning:

    the birth of Protestantism; the birth of an idea.

    Synonyms: , , , ,

  7. Archaic. something that is born.


verb (used with object)

Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S.
  1. to give birth to.
  2. to assist in giving birth; act as midwife for.

birth

/ ɜːθ /

noun

  1. the process of bearing young; parturition; childbirth natal
  2. the act or fact of being born; nativity
  3. the coming into existence of something; origin
  4. ancestry; lineage

    of high birth

  5. noble ancestry

    a man of birth

  6. natural or inherited talent

    an artist by birth

  7. archaic.
    the offspring or young born at a particular time or of a particular mother
  8. give birth
    1. to bear (offspring)
    2. to produce, originate, or create (an idea, plan, etc)
“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

verb

  1. to bear or bring forth (a child)
“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

birth

Noun

  1. The emergence and separation of offspring from the body of its mother, seen in all mammals except monotremes.

Adjective

  1. Present at birth, as a defect in a bodily structure.
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Other Word Forms

  • ܱt·ٳ noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of birth1

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English byrthe, from Scandinavian; compare Old Swedish byrth; cognate with Old English gebyrd, Old High German giburt, Gothic gabaurths; bear 1( def ), -th 1( def )
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Word History and Origins

Origin of birth1

C12: from Old Norse byrth ; related to Gothic gabaurths , Old Swedish byrdh , Old High German berd child; see bear 1, bairn
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. give birth to,
    1. to bear (a child).
    2. to initiate; originate:

      Her hobby gave birth to a successful business.

More idioms and phrases containing birth

see give birth to .
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

It follows a decision this week to close four primary schools in neighbouring borough Hackney amid a continuing fall in birth rates across London.

From

In their first trial, they were found guilty of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice by not reporting the death of their baby.

From

Many of the women arrested on Monday were pregnant and others had recently given birth.

From

Meanwhile, falsely reporting a birth or death for official records can lead to three years of imprisonment.

From

Whether we're assigned male or female at birth, we all have kidney cells, and if all goes well we each have two kidneys.

From

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Related Words

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.

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birsebirth canal