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Synonyms

birth

American  
[burth] / bɜrθ /

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:
    family, blood, line, ancestry, parentage

  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:
    inauguration, genesis, inception, commencement, start

  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.

idioms

  1. give birth to,

    1. to bear (a child).

    2. to initiate; originate.

      Her hobby gave birth to a successful business.
birth British  
/ bɜːθ /

noun

  1. the process of bearing young; parturition; childbirth

  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

    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 Scientific  
/ bûrth /

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

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

birth More Idioms  

  1. see give birth to.

Other Word Forms

  • multibirth noun

Etymology

Origin of birth

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. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"Instead, they may have accreted, or accumulated, a significant inventory of COMs at birth, providing a chemical foundation that could later interact with the liquid water in their interiors."

From Science Daily

A dog in Kent has given birth to a record-breaking 17 puppies, leaving her owners overrun.

From BBC

"This galaxy was developing bars 2 billion years after the birth of the universe," Ivanov said.

From Science Daily

Just how far away is that birthing clinic?

From The Wall Street Journal

That appeared to pave the way for the emperor's daughter to rise to the Chrysanthemum Throne, but the birth of Prince Hisahito, the emperor's nephew, the following year silenced the debate.

From Barron's

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.