birth

A2 Topic:Family & Relationships

US /bɜɹθ/ UK /bɜːθ/ See IPA manual

Freq #1646

Meanings

1

noun
The time when a baby is born or comes out of its mother.

They celebrated the birth of their first child.
2

noun
The beginning or start of something.

The 1960s saw the birth of a new kind of music.
3

noun
The family or social class a person comes from.

He was a man of noble birth.
4

verb
To give birth to a baby or young animal.

The dog birthed two healthy puppies.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the time when a baby is... nativity

4 verb · to give birth to a baby or... bear

Opposites

death

Word family

Forms births

Derived forms afabafterbirthamabantibirthbirfbirth-assignedbirth-certificatebirth-to-pottybirth-tonguebirthchildbirthdatebirthday

Related forms bear born

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

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-…

*bʰer- Proto-Indo-European birthe Middle English burðr Old Norse *burdiz Proto-Germanic *bʰértis Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Family & Relationships

External links

# birth

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /bɜɹθ/
**IPA (UK):** /bɜːθ/
**Frequency rank:** 1646

## Meanings
1. The time when a baby is born or comes out of its mother.
2. The beginning or start of something.
3. The family or social class a person comes from.
4. To give birth to a baby or young animal.

## Examples
- They celebrated the birth of their first child.
- The 1960s saw the birth of a new kind of music.
- He was a man of noble birth.
- The dog birthed two healthy puppies.

## Antonyms
- death

## Derived Forms
- afab
- afterbirth
- amab
- antibirth
- birf
- birth-assigned
- birth-certificate
- birth-to-potty
- birth-tongue
- birthchild
- birthdate
- birthday

## Related Forms
- bear
- born

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *bʰer-
- Root: birthe
- Root: burðr
- Root: *burdiz
- Root: *bʰértis

## 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-…

## AI Etymology
Birth comes 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). Birth follows a historical chain through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-, Proto-Indo-European *-tis, Proto-Indo-European *bʰértis, Proto-Germanic *burþiz, Old Norse burðr, Middle English birthe, English birth.

## Topics
- Family & Relationships

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