. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
you have here. The definition of the word
will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
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 (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.
Noun
birth (countable and uncountable, plural births)
- (uncountable) 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.
- (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, 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, page 288:That poets are far rarer births than kings.
1761, Joseph Addison, The Works of Joseph Addison, 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, 2nd edition, volume III, London: J 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. […]”
Usage notes
Birth and childbirth: Childbirth connotes the event as it occurs to the mother, whereas birth connotes it as it occurs to the offspring. For example, "the pain of childbirth" suggests pain the mother feels, while "the pain of birth" suggests pain the baby feels. Either term can be used from an outside perspective (Fathers are more and more frequently present at the birth/at childbirth).
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of "beginning of life"): death
Derived terms
Translations
process of childbearing; beginning of life
- Afar: ubka
- Albanian: lindje (sq) f
- Arabic: وِلَادَة f (wilāda), مَوْلِد m (mawlid), مِيلَاد (ar) m (mīlād), تَوَلُّد m (tawallud)
- Egyptian Arabic: ميلاد m (mīlād)
- Armenian: ծնունդ (hy) (cnund)
- Aromanian: amintare f
- Azerbaijani: doğum (az)
- Belarusian: ро́ды m pl (ródy), нараджэ́нне n (naradžénnje)
- Bengali: পয়দায়েশ (poẏdaẏeś)
- Breton: ganedigezh (br) f
- Bulgarian: ра́ждане n (ráždane), рожде́ние (bg) n (roždénie) (literary)
- Catalan: naixença f, naixement (ca) m
- Chichewa: kubadwa
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 出生 (zh) (chūshēng)
- Czech: porod (cs) m, narození (cs) n
- Danish: fødsel (da) c
- Dutch: geboorte (nl) f
- Egyptian: (mswt f)
- Estonian: sünd
- Finnish: synnyttäminen (fi), lisääntyminen (fi)
- French: naissance (fr) f
- Friulian: nassince f, part m
- Galician: nacemento (gl) m, nacenza f
- Georgian: დაბადება (dabadeba)
- German: Geburt (de) f
- Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐍃 f (gabaurþs)
- Greek: γέννα (el) f (génna), τοκετός (el) m (toketós)
- Ancient: τόκος (tókos), γένεσις f (génesis)
- Haitian Creole: nesans
- Hebrew: לידה \ לֵדָה (he) f (leidá)
- Hindi: जन्म (hi) m (janma), जनन (hi) m (janan), पैदाइश (hi) m (paidāiś)
- Hungarian: szülés (hu) (childbearing), születés (hu) (beginning of life)
- Icelandic: fæðing f
- Ido: nasko (io)
- Indonesian: kelahiran (id)
- Italian: nascita (it) f, parto (it) m
- Japanese: 誕生 (ja) (たんじょう, tanjō), 出生 (ja) (しゅっしょう, shusshō)
- Kapampangan: kebaitan, kebayitan
- Kazakh: туу (tuu)
- Khmer: កំណើត (km) (kɑmnaət)
- Korean: 출생(出生) (ko) (chulsaeng)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: لەدایکبوون (ledaykbûn)
- Kyrgyz: төрөлүш (ky) (törölüş), туулуш (ky) (tuuluş)
- Lao: ການເກິດ (kān kœt)
- Latin: nascentia f, nativitas f, partus (la) m
- Latvian: dzemdēšana, dzemdības
- Lithuanian: gimdymas m
- Low German:
- German Low German: Geboort (nds) f
- Macedonian: породување n (poroduvanje), раѓање n (raǵanje)
- Malay: kelahiran (ms), keputeraan (ms) m (for royalty, prophets), keputerian (ms) f
- Malayalam: ജനനം (ml) (jananaṁ)
- Maori: whānautanga, wherereitanga
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: fødsel (no) m
- Nynorsk: fødsel m
- Occitan: naissença (oc) f
- Odia: ଜନ୍ମ (or) (jônmô)
- Old English: ġebyrd f
- Ottoman Turkish: طوغمه (doğma)
- Pashto: تولد (ps) m (tawalód)
- Persian: تولد (fa) (tavallod), زایش (fa) (zâyeš)
- Polish: urodzenie (pl) n, narodzenie (pl) c, narodziny (pl)
- Polish: urodzenie (pl) n
- Portuguese: nascimento (pt)
- Romanian: naștere (ro) f, născare (ro) f (popular)
- Russian: ро́ды (ru) m pl (ródy), рожде́ние (ru) n (roždénije)
- Saho: ubka
- Sanskrit: उत्पाद (sa) m (utpāda), जन्म (sa) n (janma)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: рође́ње n
- Roman: rođénje (sh) n, rožastvo (archaic)
- Slovak: narodenie n
- Slovene: rojstvo (sl) n, porod (sl) m
- Spanish: nacimiento (es) m, nacencia (es) f (colloquial), naciencia (es) f (obsolete)
- Sudovian: gimsenis m
- Swahili: zaa (sw)
- Swedish: födelse (sv) c
- Tajik: таваллуд (tg) (tavallud)
- Tamil: பிறப்பு (ta) (piṟappu)
- Telugu: జననము (te) (jananamu), జన్మము (te) (janmamu), పుట్టుక (te) (puṭṭuka),
- Thai: การเกิด (th) (gaan-gə̀ət), กำเนิด (th) (gam-nə̀ət)
- Tocharian A: cmol
- Tocharian B: camel
- Turkish: doğum (tr)
- Turkmen: dogluş
- Ukrainian: поло́ги m pl (polóhy), наро́дження n (naródžennja)
- Urdu: تولد m (tavallud), پیدائش f (paidāish), ولادت f (wilādat)
- Uyghur: تۇغۇلۇش (tughulush)
- Uzbek: tugʻilish
- Vietnamese: sự sinh đẻ (vi)
- Walloon: skepiaedje (wa) m, vinowe å monde (wa) f
- Welsh: genedigaeth (cy) f
- West Frisian: berte
|
instance of childbirth
- Armenian: ծնունդ (hy) (cnund)
- Azerbaijani: doğum (az), doğulma (az), doğuluş
- Belarusian: нараджэ́нне n (naradžénnje)
- Bulgarian: ра́ждане n (ráždane), рожде́ние (bg) n (roždénie) (literary)
- Catalan: part (ca) m
- Czech: narození (cs) n
- Dutch: bevalling (nl) f
- Esperanto: naskiĝo
- Finnish: syntymä (fi)
- French: accouchement (fr) m
- Friulian: part m
- Greek: γέννα (el) f (génna), τοκετός (el) m (toketós)
- Ancient: τόκος (tókos)
- Hebrew: לידה (he) f (leida)
- Hindi: पैदाइश (hi) m (paidāiś)
- Hungarian: születés (hu)
- Ido: nasko (io)
- Interlingua: nascentia
- Italian: parto (it) m
- Latin: nascentia, nativitas f, partus (la) m
- Lithuanian: gimimas (lt) m
- Macedonian: породување n (poroduvanje), раѓање n (raǵanje)
- Maori: whānautanga
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: fødsel (no) m
- Nynorsk: fødsel m
- Old English: ġebyrd f
- Persian: تولد (fa) (tavallod)
- Polish: poród (pl) m
- Portuguese: parto (pt) m, nascimento (pt) m
- Russian: рожде́ние (ru) n (roždénije)
- Slovak: pôrod, narodenie n
- Spanish: parto (es) m, alumbramiento m
- Swahili: zaliwa (sw)
- Telugu: జన్మించుట (te) (janmiñcuṭa)
- Ukrainian: наро́дження n (naródžennja)
- Urdu: تولد m (tavallud), پیدائش f (paidāish), ولادت f (wilādat)
|
beginning or start; a point of origin
- Arabic: وِلَادَة f (wilāda), بدايَة f
- Armenian: սկիզբ (hy) (skizb)
- Breton: ganedigezh (br) f
- Bulgarian: нача́ло (bg) n (načálo)
- Catalan: part (ca) m, naixença f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 誕生/诞生 (zh) (dànshēng)
- Czech: zrod (cs) m
- Dutch: geboorte (nl) f
- Finnish: alku (fi), syntymä (fi)
- German: Geburt (de) f
- Greek: γέννηση (el) f (génnisi)
- Ancient Greek: γένεσις f (génesis)
- Interlingua: nascentia
- Italian: nascita (it) f
- Japanese: 誕生 (ja) (たんじょう, tanjō), 成立 (ja) (せいりつ, seiritsu), 勃興 (ja) (ぼっこう, bokkō)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: سەرەتا (sereta), لەدایکبوون (ledaykbûn)
- Latin: orīgo (la) f
- Low German:
- German Low German: Geboort (nds) f
- Macedonian: раѓање n (raǵanje), зародиш m (zarodiš), почеток m (početok)
- Maori: tīmatanga
- Occitan: naissença (oc) f
- Old English: ġebyrd f
- Ottoman Turkish: طوغمه (doğma)
- Portuguese: nascimento (pt) m, origem (pt) f
- Romanian: origine (ro) f, început (ro) n
- Russian: нача́ло (ru) n (načálo), рожде́ние (ru) n (roždénije), зарожде́ние (ru) n (zaroždénije)
- Slovak: zrod (sk)
- Slovene: rojstvo (sl) n
- Spanish: nacimiento (es) m
- Swahili: zaliw
- Swedish: början (sv) c
- Telugu: వంశము (te) (vaṁśamu)
- Vietnamese: đầu (vi), sự ra đời
|
circumstances of one's background
Translations to be checked
Adjective
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.
Synonyms
Etymology 2
From Middle English birthen, birðen, from the noun (see above).
Verb
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).
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, →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.
2006, R. Bruce Hull, Infinite Nature, University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 156:Biological evolution created a human mind that enabled cultural evolution, which now outpaces and outclasses the force that birthed it.
Usage notes
Derived terms
Terms derived from the noun, adjective, or verb birth
Related terms
Translations
References
- ^ Robert K. Barnhart, ed., Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (1988; reprint, Edinburgh: Chambers, 2008), 95.
- ^ Richard Cleasby and Gudbrand Vigfusson's 1874 Icelandic-English dictionary.
- ^ Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller's 1898 Anglo-Saxon dictionary.
Albanian
Etymology 1
From birë (“hole”).
Noun
birth m (plural birthe, definite birthi, definite plural birthat)
- pimple, blemish
Related terms
Etymology 2
Diminutive -th lengthening of bir (“son”).
Noun
birth m (plural birthe, definite birthi, definite plural birthat)
- son, little boy