Definition of "birth"

birth¹

/bɜːθ/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural births
1. (uncountable) The process of childbearing; the beginning of life.
2. (countable) An instance of childbirth.
3. (countable) A beginning or start; a point of origin.
4. (uncountable) The circumstances of one's background, ancestry, or upbringing.
  Quotations
  without reference to birth, but solely for their qualifications
  1843, William H. Prescott, History Of The Conquest Of Mexico And History Of The Conquest Of Peru‎, The Modern Library, page 42
  Lucy […] had no fortune, which, though a minor evil, was an evil; and she had no birth, in the high-life sense of the word, which was a greater evil.
  1861, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage
5. That which is born.
  Quotations
  That poets are far rarer births than kings.
  1692, Ben Jonson, “Epigrams”, in The Works of Ben Jonson‎, page 288
  Others hatch their eggs and tend the birth till it is able to shift for itself.
  1761, Joseph Addison, The Works of Joseph Addison‎, volume 3, John Baskerville, page 49
6. Misspelling of berth.
  Quotations
  “[…] She lays close to the Endymion, between her and the Cleopatra, just to the eastward of the sheer hulk.” “Ha!” cried William, “that’s just where I should have put her myself. It’s the best birth at Spithead. […]”
  1816, [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Mansfield Park, 2nd edition, volume III, London: […] J[ohn] Murray, […], page 151
adjective
not comparable
1. A familial relationship established by childbirth.

birth²

/bɜːθ/

verb
third-person singular simple present births, present participle birthing, simple past and past participle birthed
1. (transitive) To bear or give birth to (a child).
  Quotations
  I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!
  1939, Sidney Howard, Ben Hecht, Jo Swerling, John Van Druten, Oliver H.P. Garrett, Gone with the Wind (film)
  Kelly: Is it true we have a pod containing a baby krogan down in the cargo hold?Shepard: Not a baby. He's a full-grown super soldier ready for combat.Kelly: Please be careful if you decide to... err... birth him? His personality is completely unknown.
  2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2
  She cites some recent examples from the papers: “I birthed two babies in rapid succession”; Beyoncé “birthed her twins”; while somewhere else in the same paper a woman proudly proclaimed: “I birthed a calf!”. She ends: “My objection to the American usage is that it seems to stress rather crudely the muscular process of bringing forth a baby, whereas the graceful British English term ‘to give birth to’ is much more dignified!”
  2023 March 5, Jonathan Bouquet, “May I have a word about… being stuck in a permacrisis”, in The Observer‎
2. (transitive, figuratively) To produce, give rise to.
  Quotations
  Biological evolution created a human mind that enabled cultural evolution, which now outpaces and outclasses the force that birthed it.
  2006, R. Bruce Hull, Infinite Nature‎, University of Chicago Press, page 156

Definition of "birth"

birth1

noun

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adjective

birth2

verb

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birth¹

birth²