first born

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   The child a mother or father has before any other children.

   Grammar: Often used with 'the' or a possessive: the first born, my first born.

   Patterns

   • the first born
   • someone's first born

   Their first born arrived just after they moved to the city.

   In many families, the first born is expected to look after the younger children.

   She wrote a letter to her first born on his wedding day.

2. 2adjectivebefore a noun

   Born before all of a person's other children.

   Grammar: Comes before a noun: the first-born son.

   Patterns

   • first-born child
   • first-born son
   • first-born daughter

   He is the first-born child in a family of six.

   The first-born daughter took over the family business.

   They gave the first-born son a special name.

Common combinations

the first born

The first born usually gets more attention from new parents.

first-born child

As a first-born child, she was used to being in charge.

first-born son

Traditionally, the first-born son inherited the land.

her first born

She held her first born in her arms and cried.

Synonyms and how they differ

eldest

Describes the oldest child in a family, which is often the same person as the first born, but 'eldest' can also refer to the oldest of any group.

oldest

A more general word for the person who has lived longest; it does not always mean the child born first.

Opposites

Word family

birth noun

The time when a baby comes out of its mother's body.

born adjective

Having come into life at birth; used in phrases like 'newly born'.

Commonly confused: first born or firstborn? first born or first-hand?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “first born”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words