ENGLISH
REFERENCE

birth

n. C / U
A2 Elementary Oxford US //ˈbɝθ// UK //bˈɜːθ// birth Archaic General-service

n. the time when a baby or young animal comes out of its mother's body. It can also mean the start of a new idea or organization.

n. the emergence of young from the body of the mother; the start of life as a physically separate entity. Often used metaphorically to describe the inception or origin of a non-biological entity.


SIMPLE

She gave birth to a healthy baby boy yesterday.

CONTEXTUAL

The hospital records the exact time and date of every birth in the city.

COMPLEX

Historians often point to the signing of the treaty as the birth of the modern nation-state, marking a shift away from feudal loyalty.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology 1

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-European bʰŕ̥tis (compare Latin fors (“luck”), Old Irish brith), from bʰer- (“to carry, bear”). More at bear.

Etymology 2

From Middle English birthen, birðen, from the noun (see above).

Etymology 3

See berth.

Pitfall

She gave a birth to a daughterShe gave birth to a daughterIn the common idiom 'give birth', the noun is used without an article.

Idioms2 entries

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