BIRTH, n. berth. [L. partus, the participle of pario, to bear.] 1. The act of coming into life, or of being born. Except in poetry, it is generally applied to human beings; as the birth of a son.2. Lineage; extraction; descent; as, Grecian birth.It is used of high or low extraction; but is often used by way of distinction for a descent from noble or honorable parents and ancestors; as a man of birth.3. The condition in which a person is born.A foe by birth to Troy.4. That which is born; that which is produced, whether animal or vegetable.5. The act of bringing forth; as, she had two children at a birth.6. In a theological sense, regeneration is called the new birth.7. Origin; beginning; as the birth of an empire.
|