birth
the time when something begins (especially life)
How often you will meet it
Rank 1,906 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 9,404 times across 155,139 chapters — 0.004% of every word in the library.
What it means
noun
- the time when something begins (especially life) they divorced after the birth of the childhis election signaled the birth of a new age
- the event of being born also: nativity, nascency, nascence they celebrated the birth of their first child
- the process of giving birth also: parturition, giving birth, birthing
- the kinship relation of an offspring to the parents also: parentage
- a baby born; an offspring the overall rate of incidence of Down's syndrome is one in every 800 births
verb
- cause to be born also: give birth, deliver, bear, have My wife had twins yesterday!
birth in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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The Cathedral explains everything, has given birth to and preserved everything.
The Dream · Émile Zola · Chapter 1
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Then came the second excuse, which had its birth during the turbulent times of reconstruction.
The Red Record Tabulated Statistics · Ida B. Wells-Barnett · Chapter 1
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One year, day for day, after her marriage, she gave birth to a son, who received the name of Maxence.
Other People's Money · Emile Gaboriau · Chapter 1
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The King of this beautiful island had one son, for whom a life of adventure had been foretold at his birth.
The Yellow Fairy Book: The Grateful Beasts · World Traditions (Celtic, Norse, Asian & Persian) · Chapter 1
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He had been entered since birth at the crack house at Eton; and now to be pitchforked into Dirty Dick's at Harrow----!
The Hill: A Romance of Friendship · Horace Annesley Vachell · Chapter 1