| 释义 |
birth
I. \ˈbərth, ˈbə̄th, ˈbəith\ noun
(plural births \-ths sometimes -thz\)
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English birthe, burthe, from Old Norse byrth; akin to Old English gebyrd birth, Old High German giburt, Gothic gabaurths, Old Norse bera to bear — more at bear
1.
a. : the act of coming forth from the womb : the condition of being born : the emergence of a new individual from the body of its parent; specifically : the period during which and processes by which the mammalian fetus becomes established as an individual physically independent of its mother's body
< several years after the birth of the princess >
< the birth of the head was delayed >
< a child sickly from birth >
b. : the act or process of bringing forth young from the womb
< she had a very hard birth after a prolonged labor >
2.
a. : the condition or position that falls to a person as a result of being born especially at a particular time or place or into a particular kinship
< a Frenchman by birth >
< marriage between those unequal in birth and ability is risky >
b. : high or noble status dependent on birth
< a lady of birth descended from the Kings of Ireland >
c. obsolete : nativity 4
3. obsolete : fetus
4.
a. archaic : one that is born : child, offspring, young
b. : a coming into existence : beginning, start
< the birth of an idea >
II. verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
transitive verb
1. now chiefly dialect : to bring forth (as a child)
2. : to give rise to : originate, produce
< provided the weapons that won the war and … birthed the Atomic Age — Philip Wylie >
intransitive verb
dialect : to bring forth a child or young
< two women due to birth 'bout the same time — Ralph Ellison >
III. adjective
Etymology: birth, noun
: biological herein
< spent years searching for her birth parents > |