BIRTH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does birth mean? 

• BIRTH (noun)
  The noun BIRTH has 5 senses:

1. the time when something begins (especially life)

2. the event of being born

3. the process of giving birth

4. the kinship relation of an offspring to the parents

5. a baby born; an offspring

  Familiarity information: BIRTH used as a noun is common.

• BIRTH (verb)
  The verb BIRTH has 1 sense:

1. cause to be born

  Familiarity information: BIRTH used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BIRTH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The time when something begins (especially life)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

his election signaled the birth of a new age

Hypernyms ("birth" is a kind of...):

beginning; commencement; first; get-go; kickoff; offset; outset; showtime; start; starting time (the time at which something is supposed to begin)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "birth"):

cradle (birth of a person)

Holonyms ("birth" is a part of...):

life; life-time; lifespan; lifetime (the period during which something is functional (as between birth and death))

Antonym:

death (the time when something ends)

Derivation:

be born (come into existence through birth)

birth (cause to be born)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The event of being born

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

birth; nascence; nascency; nativity

Context example:

they celebrated the birth of their first child

Hypernyms ("birth" is a kind of...):

alteration; change; modification (an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "birth"):

live birth (the birth of a living fetus (regardless of the length of gestation))

posthumous birth (birth of a child by Caesarean section after the death of the mother)

posthumous birth (birth of a child after the father has died)

rebirth; reincarnation; renascence (a second or new birth)

delivery (the event of giving birth)

Antonym:

death (the event of dying or departure from life)

Derivation:

be born (come into existence through birth)

birth (cause to be born)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The process of giving birth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

birth; birthing; giving birth; parturition

Hypernyms ("birth" is a kind of...):

biological process; organic process (a process occurring in living organisms)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "birth"):

brooding; incubation (sitting on eggs so as to hatch them by the warmth of the body)

calving (giving birth to a calf)

accouchement; childbearing; childbirth; vaginal birth (the parturition process in human beings; having a baby; the process of giving birth to a child)

farrow; farrowing (the production of a litter of pigs)

hatch; hatching (the production of young from an egg)

egg laying; laying (the production of eggs (especially in birds))

childbed; confinement; labor; labour; lying-in; parturiency; travail (concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child)

Holonyms ("birth" is a part of...):

reproduction (the process of generating offspring)

Derivation:

be born (come into existence through birth)

birth (cause to be born)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The kinship relation of an offspring to the parents

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Synonyms:

birth; parentage

Hypernyms ("birth" is a kind of...):

family relationship; kinship; relationship ((anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A baby born; an offspring

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

the overall rate of incidence of Down's syndrome is one in every 800 births

Hypernyms ("birth" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

• BIRTH (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to be born

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

bear; birth; deliver; give birth; have

Context example:

My wife had twins yesterday!

Hypernyms (to "birth" is one way to...):

bring forth; produce (bring forth or yield)

"Birth" entails doing...:

conceive (become pregnant; undergo conception)

Verb group:

bear; carry; expect; gestate; have a bun in the oven (be pregnant with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "birth"):

twin (give birth to twins)

drop (give birth; used for animals)

foal (give birth to a foal)

cub (give birth to cubs)

kitten (give birth to kittens)

lamb (give birth to a lamb)

litter (give birth to a litter of animals)

pup; whelp (give birth to (a puppy))

farrow; pig (give birth to (piglets))

fawn (have fawns)

calve; have young (give birth to (a calf))

bear; carry; expect; gestate; have a bun in the oven (be pregnant with)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

birth (the event of being born)

birth (the process of giving birth)

birth (the time when something begins (especially life))

 Context examples 

A hemangioma that is not present at birth but develops later in life.

(Acquired Hemangioma, NCI Thesaurus)

Damage to the phrenic nerve that was not present at birth.

(Acquired Phrenic Nerve Injury, NCI Thesaurus)

Damage to the phrenic nerve that results in paralysis of the hemidiaphragm and was not present at birth.

(Acquired Phrenic Nerve Palsy, NCI Thesaurus)

Of or relating to a medical condition or characteristic that is not present at birth but develops subsequently.

(Acquired, NCI Thesaurus)

The A strain has intermediate breeding performance with a high ratio of females at birth and a low litter size at weaning.

(A/J Mouse, NCI Thesaurus)

Among these are reduced lung function, asthma, cardiovascular disease, preterm birth, and even death.

(Cleaner Air Tied to Healthier Lungs in Kids, NIH)

Congenital malformations, also known as birth defects, are the leading cause of infant deaths and diseases worldwide.

(NIH creates Atlas of Human Malformation Syndromes in Diverse Populations, NIH)

Aganglionic megacolon is present from birth, but the symptoms may not appear until later in a child’s life.

(Aganglionic megacolon, NCI Dictionary)

How long something has existed; elapsed time since birth.

(Age, NCI Thesaurus)

Clinical signs are usually not present at birth but develop within the first two years of life and include hypoglycemia from underlying liver dysfunction, failure to thrive, spasticity, myoclonus and seizures.

(Alper Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)