Meaning & use
birth
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
The moment or process when a baby or young animal comes out of its mother's body.
Grammar: Countable for each event (a difficult birth); uncountable when general (at birth).
Patterns
- give birth to someone
- at birth
The birth took place at home.
She gave birth to twins last night.
The kitten was blind at birth.
nounsingularfigurative
The beginning of something new, such as an idea, movement or era.
Grammar: Usually followed by of: the birth of a nation.
Patterns
- the birth of something
The invention led to the birth of modern communication.
Historians study the birth of the labor movement.
The film marked the birth of a new genre.
noununcountableformalold-fashioned
Your family background or social origin.
Grammar: Used in phrases like of noble birth.
Patterns
- of humble birth
He was a man of humble birth who became a minister.
Her noble birth gave her access to the court.
Word forms
| plural | births |
|---|
Common combinations
- give birth
- She gave birth in the early morning.
- date of birth
- Please write your date of birth here.
- birth rate
- The country's birth rate has dropped.
- birth certificate
- You need a birth certificate to apply.
- the birth of an idea
- The meeting saw the birth of an idea that changed the company.
Synonyms and how they differ
- delivery
- Delivery stresses the process of bringing a baby out and is often used in medical settings.
- origin
- Origin is a general word for where something starts and does not refer to being born.
- beginning
- Beginning is plain and neutral, while birth adds the picture of something new being created.
Opposites
Word family
- birthday noun
- the yearly date of a person's birth
- birthplace noun
- the place where someone was born
- birthright noun
- a right a person has from birth
- stillbirth noun
- the birth of a baby that has died
- rebirth noun
- a new beginning or revival
Commonly confused: birth or berth?
birth vs berth
Birth is being born; a berth is a bed on a ship or train, or a place for a ship to dock.
Practice
Which sentence correctly uses birth?
Choose one answer.
Give birth to is the standard pattern. The first uses the homophone berth, and birth is not a verb in the other options.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “birth”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.