Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
stillborn. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
stillborn, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
stillborn in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
stillborn you have here. The definition of the word
stillborn will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
stillborn, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From English still + born. First attested in 1597.
Pronunciation
Adjective
stillborn (not comparable)
- Dead at birth.
- Synonym: (dated, rare) deadborn
- Antonym: (archaic) quickborn
1768, Horace Walpole, Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard III:Queen Anne, before Elizabeth, bore a still-born son.
- 1978, Holy Bible (New International Version), Job 3:16,
- Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?
- (figuratively, by extension) Ignored, without influence, or unsuccessful from the outset; abortive.
- Synonym: unfruitful
1859, Charles Reade, chapter 11, in Love Me Little, Love Me Long:This, gentlemen, is a list of the joint-stock companies created last year. . . . Of these some were stillborn, but the majority hold the market.
1915, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 18, in The Highgrader:His lips framed themselves to whistle the first bars of a popular song, but the sound died stillborn.
Translations
ignored, without influence, unsuccessful, abortive
Translations to be checked
Noun
stillborn (plural stillborns)
- A baby that is born dead.
2016, Alok Sharma, A Practical Guide to Third Trimester of Pregnancy & Puerperium:About 35% of stillborns are discovered to have major structural anomalies by chromosomal studies and autopsy findings.
Translations