▪ I. birth, n.1
(bɜːθ)
Forms: 3 burðe(y), birðe, 3–4 burþe, birþ(e, 4 byrþe, burþ, berþe, (briþ, breth,) 4–5 burth(e, birthe, 4–6 byrth(e, 5 bryth, 6–7 berth, 3– birth.
[Early ME. byrþ(e, burð(e, birþ(e, probably, since the form is foreign to OE., a. ON. *byrð(i)r str. fem. (OSw. byrþ, Da. byrd), genit. burðar (on which Icelandic formed a new nominative burðr masc.); = Goth. ga-baurþs:—OTeut. *(ga-)burþi-z, f. the stem of ber-an to bear, with suffix -þi- (= Aryan -ti-s, cf. Skr. bhrt{iacu}s, OIr. brith). The OTeut. word had shifting stress, and consequently, according to Verner's law, þ and d interchanged in the inflexion: in ON. and Goth. these were levelled under þ, but in WGer. under d (High G. t), in OS. giburd, OHG. giburt, burt (MHG., mod.G. geburt), OE. ᵹebyrd. The latter was prob. the source of ME. birde, burde, ‘race, descent’; but could hardly be that of birth, unless the latter was assimilated to ns. in -þ, -þe, or influenced by ON. For the final -e of ME. byrþe, cf. ME. derþe a. ON. dyrð, and see -th1.]
1. The bearing of offspring. Viewed as an act of the mother: a. Bringing forth, giving birth. Now chiefly in ‘(several young) at a birth.’
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10575 Quen Anna was cummen to time of birþ, Sco bar þat maiden. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxxv. 17 For the hardnes of birth [1388 childberyng] she biganne to perishe. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. ii. 147 By her he had two children at one birth. 1631 Milton Epit. M'chess. Winchester 67 Who, after years of barrenness The highly-favoured Joseph bore..And at her next birth..Through pangs fled to felicity. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones ii. ii, The birth of an heir by his beloved sister. 1787 Garthshore in Phil. Trans. LXXVII. 357 The lady..produced at one birth eight perfect children. 1881 W. Gregor Folk Lore N.E. Scot. 4 One..wished God speed to the birth. |
† b. Conception or gestation.
Obs.| c 1375 Wyclif Serm. cxxvii. Sel. Wks. II. 7 Boþe in birþe in wombe and in birþe of þe wombe. |
c. Viewed as a fact pertaining to the offspring: The fact of being born, nativity, beginning of individual existence, coming into the world.
to give birth to: to bear, bring forth (offspring).
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 47 On þe ehteðe dai efter his burþe. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1484 Ðe fader luuede esau wel for firme birðe & swete mel. a 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2193 Better es þe day of dede Þan þe day of burthe. c 1387 Chaucer Moder of God 74 The birthe of Cryst our thraldom putte vs fro. 1595 Shakes. John iii. i. 51 At thy birth, deere boy, Nature and Fortune ioyn'd to make thee great. 1732 Pope Hor. Sat. ii. ii. 97 Why had not I in those good times my birth? 1855 Tennyson Maud i. xix. iv, Mine by a right, from birth till death. |
2. fig. Of things: Origin, origination, commencement of existence, beginning.
| [1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 521 When great things labouring perish in their birth.] 1611 ― Wint. T. iv. iv. 80 Not yet on summers death, nor on the birth Of trembling winter. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 267 ¶6 æneas's Settlement..gave Birth to the Roman Empire. 1789 Bentham Princ. Legisl. xvii. §17 Offences which owe their birth to the joint influence of indolence and pecuniary interest. 1875 Hamerton Intell. Life x. viii. 376 The birth of a powerful idea. |
3. a. The product of bearing, that which is born; offspring, child; young (of animals).
arch. (
Cf. afterbirth.)
| a 1400 Cursor M. 10886 (Trin.) For þi of þe beþ born a burþ. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 433/2 The moder shold be delyuerd of hyr byrthe. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 122 Vnfather'd Heires, and loathly Births of Nature. 1647 Crashaw Poems 129 Saturn..devour'd that birth he fear'd. 1703 Farquhar Inconst. iii. (1728) 43 The woman's birth was spirited away. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 120 ¶5 Others hatch their Eggs and tend the Birth, 'till it is able to shift for it self. 1883 W. G. Black Folk-Med. viii. 128 The next birth will be a boy. |
† b. That which is borne in the womb; ‘fruit of the womb.’
Obs.| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1697 Rachel non birðe ne nam. 1500 Will of Treffry, Cornwall (Somerset Ho.), I bequeth to the byrth being in the bely of Elyn Danyel. 1535 Coverdale Jer. xx. 15 That the byrth might not haue come out, but remayned still in her. 1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden liv, It expelleth the dead Birth. |
† c. collect. Children, offspring.
Obs.| 1614 Chapman Odyss. viii. 337 When you come To banquet with your wife and birth at home. |
d. fig. Of things: Product, creation, ‘offspring.’
| 1625 Bacon Innovations, Ess. (Arb.) 526 Innouations, which are the Births of Time. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 196 The fruitful Earth Was free to give her unexacted Birth. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ii. 476 Teaching we learn; and, giving, we retain The births of intellect. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 66 It was a foolish jest, The birth of vacant brains. |
† 4. A race, a nation. (
transl. L.
natio.)
Obs. rare.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter lxxviii[ix]. 10 And in berthes unknawen be, Bi-fore oure eghen þat we se. Ibid. cxlix. 7 In birthes wrekes for to do. |
5. a. Parentage, lineage, extraction, descent;
esp. rank, station, position inherited from parents.
| a 1240 Wohunge in Cott. Hom. 269 Noblesce and hehnesse of burðe. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iii. vi. 78 Al þe linage of men þat ben in erþe ben of semblable burþe. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 172 She is no equall for his birth. a 1687 Petty Pol. Arith. x. (1691) 115 To live according to their Birth and Breeding. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 201 ¶9 A young man whose birth and fortune give him a claim to notice. 1839 Thirlwall Greece xii. II. 94 Marriages contracted between parties of unequal birth. |
b. spec. Good family, noble lineage.
| 1595 Shakes. John ii. i. 430 If loue ambitious fought a match of birth. 1752 Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 96 Birth, titles, & place, must be honoured above industry & riches. 1876 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. I. iv. 201 There is nothing men more pride themselves on than birth. |
† c. transf. One born in such a position. (
Cf. 3.)
| 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. xi. lxii. 270 Such Births as she not else must loue, but as they licens't are. |
† 6. Nature, kind, sex; natural character.
Obs.| c 1230 Hali Meid. 13 Þis mihte..athalt hire burðe i licnesse of heuenliche cunde. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iii. vi. 79 Ȝif he norisse his corage vnto vices and forlete his propre burþe. 1382 Wyclif Wisd. xiv. 26 The mischaunging of birthe [1611 changing of kinde, marg. sexe]. 1558 Queen Elizabeth in Strype Ann. Ref. I. ii. App. vi. 11 Her highness, beyinge a woman by birthe and nature. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iii. 20 Nor ought so good, but strain'd from that faire vse, Reuolts from true birth. |
7. Conditions or relations involved in birth.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy xxxii. 12826 Teucro..Þat was brother of birthe to þe bold Thelamon. 1697 Dryden æneid vii. 1001 A foe by birth to Troy's unhappy name. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague ii. iii. 346 By my very birth I am a creature sinful as yourselves. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 31 He was an Athenian by birth, and a Spartan citizen. |
† 8. first (firme) birth: rights of primogeniture;
birthright.
Obs.| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1497 Ðat ic ðin firme birðehe gete. Ibid. 1501 Firme birðe was wurði wune ðe fader dede ðe firme sune. 1387 Trevisa Higden Rolls Ser. II. 301 Þe furste burþe [primogenita] were special profiȝtes and worschippes to the eldest sones. 1527 Ibid. ii. xi. 69 Jacob..had boughte the firste byrthes and slyly geten his faders blessynge. |
† 9. Nativity; ‘fortune’ as influenced by the aspect of the planets at the moment of birth.
Obs.| 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. i. 34 A cunning man did calculate my birth, And told me that by Water I should dye. |
10. Theol. in
phr. new birth: regeneration.
| 1535 Coverdale Tit. iii. 5 He saued vs by the fountayne of the new byrth. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. l. §1 The Church is to us that very Mother of our new birth. 1678 R. Barclay Apol. Quakers v. §24 (1701) 175 The New Birth cometh not by the outward Knowledge of Christ. 1875 H. E. Manning Mission H. Ghost i. 16 Baptism confers a new birth. |
11. (See
quot.)
| 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farm 141 In the paine of the bellie [of a horse], vvhich some call the Birth, you shall take the seeds of vvild Rue, etc. |
12. attrib. = ‘native, natal,’ and in
comb.:
a. relating to sense 1, as
birth-carol,
birth-city,
birth-date,
birth-hour,
birth-land,
birth-note,
birth-notice,
birth-pang,
birth-peal,
birth-robe,
birth-song,
birth-spot,
birth-stead (
obs.),
birth-struggle,
birth-throe,
birth-town,
birth-trauma,
birth-year, also
birthday,
birthplace;
birth-brought,
birth-favouring,
birth-strangled adjs.;
b. in sense of ‘belonging to one from birth,’ as
birth-blindness,
birth-blot,
birth-mark (also
fig.),
birth-name,
birth-poison (
= original sin),
birth-sin,
birth-tongue,
birthright;
birth-marked adj. c. with astrological reference, as
birth-planet,
birth-sign,
birth-star.
| 1864 Soc. Sc. Rev. I. 302 A case of *birth blindness. |
| 1589 Warner Alb. Eng. vi. xxix. 142 Whose *birth-brought Nature. |
| 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 190 That Angelicall *birth-Caroll of our blessed Lord. 1935 C. Day Lewis Time to Dance 11 Birth-carol of spring. |
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 537 Worse than a slavish wipe or *birth-hours blot. |
| 1580 North Plutarch (1676) 150 A certain *birth-marke he had upon one of his lips, like a little wart. 1869 Swinburne in Fortnightly Rev. July 74 Here too the birth-mark of the great race is visible. 1934 ‘G. Orwell’ Burmese Days ii. 21 His birthmarked cheek. |
| 1925 L. P. Smith Words & Idioms v, The *birth-notices in The Times. |
| 1821 Byron Sardan. ii. i. 66 'Tis thy natal ruler—thy *birth-planet. |
| 1528 Tindale Doctr. Treat. (1848) 301 By the reason of original sin, or *birth-poison, that remaineth in him. |
| 1566 Drant Horace Sat. i. vii. E b, What unstable starres, what *byrthe-sygnes once he had. |
| 1562 39 Articles ix. (title) Of Original or *Birth-sin. 1842 H. E. Manning Serm. (1848) I. 8 All that lies wrapped up in his birth-sin. |
| 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 140 [Homer] whom nine Cities strove about, which should be his *birth-spot. |
| 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 64 Neither fate, destonie, *birthstar, signe or planet. |
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22092 Right sua sal þe feind..ches him a *birth-sted i-wiss. |
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. i. 30 Finger of *Birth-strangled Babe. |
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. iv. iv. 164 And so, with death-throes and *birth-throes, a new one is to be born. |
| 1387 Trevisa Higden in Craik Lit. & Learn. Eng. (1844) 109 This apayringe of the *birthe tonge is by cause of twey thinges. |
| 1929 O. Rank Trauma of Birth p. xiii, The to all appearances purely physical *birth trauma with its prodigious psychical consequences for the whole development of mankind. |
13. Special comb.:
† birth-bearing, parturition;
† birth-brief, a genealogical table, a family tree;
birth certificate, a certificate of birth (
certificate n. 3);
† birth-child, child by birth (in a place), native;
birth control, the prevention of conception; also
attrib.; hence
birth controller;
† birth-cord, the umbilical cord;
† birth-gazer,
† birth-lotter, a calculator or caster of nativities;
birth parent, a natural (as opposed to an adoptive) parent;
birth-puffed a., proud of one's descent;
birth-rate, the ratio of the number of births per year to the population (usually calculated per thousand);
birth-roll, a list of persons born in one place;
birth-root, the
Trillium erectum or Indian Balm;
birth-state, condition by birth;
birthstone, a gemstone associated with the month of one's birth;
birth-stool, a stool for assisting in parturition;
† birth-tide = birth-time;
birth-weight, the weight of a baby at birth.
| a 1300 Pains of Hell 135 in O.E. Misc. 215 Slowyn here childer in *burþberyng. |
| 1708 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. ii. ii. iv. (1743) 374 All..Legitimations, *Birthbrieves, Presentations, etc. |
| 1900 Whitaker's Almanack 1901 4 (Index) *Birth certificates. 1928 W. C. & J. C. Hall Law of Adoption i. 47 The production of a birth certificate is necessary for candidates for nearly all important examinations and for many kinds of employment. |
| 1608 Shakes. Per. iv. iv. 41 The earth Hath Thetis *birth-child on the heavens bestow'd. c 1630 Risdon Surv. Devon §104 (1810) 99 Very notable hath this town been for her birthchild Winefride. |
| 1914 The Woman Rebel June 39/2 (heading) The *Birth Control League. 1922 Ld. Dawson (title) Love—Marriage—Birth Contol. 1936 D. V. Glass Struggle for Population iii. 35 Condoms are listed as preventatives of disease and not as birth-control appliances, and are thus easily available. 1937 V. Gollancz in ‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier p. xvii, Birth control clinics up and down the country. |
| 1921 A. Huxley Crome Yellow v. 45 The indignation of a convinced *birth-controller. 1923 M. Edge Artificial Birth Control 15 Another reason the Birth Controller gives in support of his theory is, that we are over⁓populated. |
| 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1594) 40 marg., Sorcerers, magitians, and *birth gazers. |
| 1549 Chaloner Erasm. Moriæ Enc. A jv, An evident argument and token of good lucke, as these *byrthlotters saie. |
| 1977 N.Y. Times 30 Jan. iv. 8 A small but apparently growing number of adults..have started searching for their biological parents, or their ‘*birth parents’, as some prefer it. 1984 Gainesville (Florida) Sun 3 Apr. 10a/2 Father No. 1 is my real father. He never married my real mother. She gave me up for adoption, but I have become acquainted with my birth parents in the last year or so. |
| 1859 Ann. Rep. Registr. Gen. p. ii, The marriage rate and the *birth rate were above, the death rate was below the average. 1919 W. R. Inge Outspoken Ess. 69 In the Rhondda Valley the birth-rate is still about forty. |
| 1822 Amer. Jrnl. Science IV. 62 Plants collected..around the great Lakes..[include] *Birth root. 1867 A. Gray Man. Bot. (ed. 5) 523 Trillium erectum, Purple T. or Birth-root. |
| 1861 Maine Anc. Law iv. (1876) 94 The current language concerning the *birth-state of men. |
| 1907 Ladies Home Jrnl. Sept. 65/2 September's *birthstone is the sapphire, and stands for constancy, truth and virtue. 1913 G. F. Kunz Curious Lore Precious Stones ix. 317 The substitution of a new schedule for the time-honored list of birth-stones has received the approval of the National Association of Jewellers. 1978 N.Y. Times 30 Mar. b10/1 (Advt.), 50% discount. Pearl Rings. Birthstone Rings. Star Sapphire. |
| 1627 Drayton Agincourt, etc. 154 Bring forth the *Birth-stoole. |
| a 1240 Wohunge in Cott. Hom. 277, I þi *burðtid. a 1631 Drayton Dudley to Lady J. Gray (R.) No ominous star did at thy birthtide shine. |
| 1949 M. Mead Male & Female xiii. 268 It is taken to its mother, at the proper hour for its *birth-weight,..and persuaded to suck. 1985 New Yorker 11 Feb. 34/2 Taped to each crib was a..card telling mother's name, the time of birth, and birth weight. |
▸
birth mother n. (chiefly in the context of adoption or surrogacy) the woman who gives birth to a particular child.
| 1958P. S. Buck Should White Parents adopt Brown Babies? in Ebony June 28/2 It is a matter of pride with me that the children's *birth-mother was Buddhist, that the adoptive parents are Jewish, and that the judge who approved the adoption was Catholic. 1988 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 26 June Banning the use of those techniques [of in vitro fertilization and surrogacy] prevents people such as Maggie (baby Alice's genetic mother, social mother and sister of her birth mother Linda) from producing her own genetic offspring. 2001 Independent 9 Apr. ii. 7/1 Throughout my teens I tried to find my birth mother. |
▸
birth father n. the man who is genetically the father of a particular child, as opposed to an adoptive father or stepfather.
| 1977 Los Angeles Times 27 Mar. xi. 4/5 Sources of outside pressure [on a woman to give her child up for adoption] were the *birth father, parents of the mother.., [etc.]. 2004 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 19 June i. 19/2 If the birth father has been absent emotionally and/or financially, and the stepfather has raised the bride, the subject can be sensitive. |
▪ II. † birth, n.2 Obs. [Perh. the same word as prec. with the general sense of ‘bear’; perhaps a. ON. byrðr burthen: the derivation being the same.] Burthen, weight, ? bulk.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. i. xiii. 17 (Jam.) Thare bwyis bowys all for byrtht. 1513 Douglas æneis v. iii. 31 The busteus barge..Sa huge of birth a cetie semit sche. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 246 For birth and wecht, hir furing wes so hie, With thame ilkane scho sank into the se. |
▪ III. ˈbirth, v. [f. birth n.1: the ME. vb. may be birthen.] 1. intr. To have birth, be born.
rare.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1471 He wroȝten and fiȝt, Queðer here sulde birðen bi-foren. 1865 J. H. Stirling Secret Hegel I. 147 It is difficult to perceive how I am related to it, how I birth from it, or decease into it. |
2. trans. To give birth to; to give rise to. Chiefly
dial. and
U.S. dial.| 1906 V. McNabb in F. Valentine Fr. V. McNabb iii. iii. §7. 300 Salute the sail that birthed you free. 1928, etc. in H. Wentworth Amer. Dial. Dict. 1945 in Amer. Speech (1946) XXI. 303 The plan for UNO was birthed at Dumbarton Oaks. 1958 J. Carew Wild Coast ii. 22 The night his mother birthed him. |
▪ IV. birth obs. form of
berth n.