Birth (bẽrth), n. [OE. burth,
birth, AS. beor?, gebyrd, fr. beran to
bear, bring forth; akin to D. geboorte, OHG. burt,
giburt, G. geburt, Icel. burðr, Skr. bhrti
bearing, supporting; cf. Ir. & Gael. beirthe born, brought forth.
√92. See 1st Bear, and cf. Berth.] 1.
The act or fact of coming into life, or of being born; -- generally
applied to human beings; as, the birth of a son.
2. Lineage; extraction; descent; sometimes, high
birth; noble extraction.
Elected without reference to birth, but solely for
qualifications.
Prescott.
3. The condition to which a person is born; natural
state or position; inherited disposition or tendency.
A foe by birth to Troy's unhappy name.
Dryden.
4. The act of bringing forth; as, she had two
children at a birth. "At her next birth."
Milton.
5. That which is born; that which is produced,
whether animal or vegetable.
Poets are far rarer births than kings.
B. Jonson.
Others hatch their eggs and tend the birth till it is
able to shift for itself.
Addison.
6. Origin; beginning; as, the birth of an
empire.
New birth (Theol.), regeneration, or the
commencement of a religious life.
Syn. -- Parentage; extraction; lineage; race; family.
Birth, n. See Berth. [Obs.]
De Foe.