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Added 9 October 2026

birth

/bɜːθ/ noun

In Latin: nascentia, nativitas, partus Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about birth at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

The time when something begins (especially life).
they divorced after the birth of the child
The event of being born.
they celebrated the birth of their first child
The process of giving birth.

verb

Cause to be born.
My wife had twins yesterday!

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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