birth

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the event of being born

   they celebrated the birth of their first child

2. 2
   noun

   the time when something begins (especially life)

   they divorced after the birth of the child

3. 3
   verb

   to cause to be born

   The dog birthed two puppies.

4. 4
   noun

   An instance of childbirth.

   Intersex babies account for roughly one per cent of all births.

5. 5
   noun

   A beginning or start; a point of origin.

   the birth of an empire

6. 6
   noun

   The circumstances of one's background, ancestry, or upbringing.

   He was of noble birth, but fortune had not favored him.

7. 7
   noun

   That which is born.

   That poets are far rarer births than kings.

8. 8
   adj

   A familial relationship established by childbirth.

   Her birth father left when she was a baby; she was raised by her mother and stepfather.

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-…