heaven-bornadj.n.
/ˈhɛvnˌbɔːn/, U.S. /ˈhɛv(ə)nˌbɔrn/ A. adj.
1. Of heavenly birth or origin; divinely created or bestowed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > heaven > [adjective] > of heavenly birth
heaven-born1589
1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. F3v As if some God twise born like vnto the Thracian Bacchus, forsaking his heauen borne Deitie, shoulde delude our eyes with the alternate forme of his infancie.
1599 J. Weever Epigrammes sig. E6 Some heauen born goddesse.
1645 J. Milton On Christ's Nativity: Hymn i, in Poems 2 While the Heav'n-born-childe, All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies.
1696 J. Cockburn Jacob's Vow ii. iv. 450 As the desires of doing Good are of all other the Noblest,..so certainly the fulfilling thereof..has a gust and relish proper to delight a Heaven born Soul.
1720 A. Pennecuik Streams from Helicon (ed. 2) ii. sig. H5 Heaven born Souls to low Delights incline.
1794 S. T. Coleridge Monody Death Chatterton (rev. ed.) in T. Chatterton Poems p. xxv I weep, that heaven-born Genius so should fall.
1842 I. Williams Baptistery I. i. 22 The immortal shoot Of Heaven-born Virtue.
1880 A. C. Swinburne Study of Shakespeare 227 The noblest earth-born brothers and love-worthiest heaven-born sister.
1910 Times 19 July 49/3 A Sovereign who in the eyes of his people is the living embodiment of past traditions and aspirations, the heaven-born link between old and new Japan.
1942 S. Smith Mother, what is Man? 67 Than earth-born engine-borne, heaven-born wing-borne is better?
2004 Winston-Salem (N. Carolina) Jrnl. (Nexis) 29 Feb. b4 Loved ones will surely miss him, but he's ‘Heaven Born and Heaven Bound’—to God be the Glory.
2. Of such great ability in a particular field as to appear divinely ordained to it. Also: privileged, exalted (frequently ironically, implying a lack of natural talent).
ΚΠ
1757 R. Clive Let. 6 Dec. (Brit. Libr.: India Office: Clive Coll. Box 4) A Heaven born General who had never learn't the Art of War.
1789 in Parl. Hist. (House of Lords 17 Jan.) XXVII. 1080 The duke [of Chandos] parodying what Mr. Pitt's father had said of General Wolfe, pronounced the present Chancellor of the Exchequer a heaven-born minister.
1827 W. Scott Jrnl. 28 Aug. (1941) 94 He is a heaven-born teacher.
1858 J. B. Norton Topics for Indian Statesmen 265 The same Heaven-born amateurs still occupy the bench, and the quality of their judgments cannot but be the same.
1892 Harper's Mag. Feb. 455/2 The festivitas, the irresistible buoyancy of humor, which informs all this heaven-born comedian's creations.
1928 Times 30 Jan. 7/2 A scheme, apparently conceived by Heaven-born amateur engineers, for sewage works in Whitmore Vale.
1965 Afr. Affairs 64 170 Much as one admires men of that moral courage, one does not necessarily conclude that they are heaven-born administrators.
1996 India Today 30 June 164/2 He poses questions such as what might happen to the caste system when its heaven-born upper crust is gradually ousted from positions of power.
2004 Belfast News-let. (Nexis) 2 July 59 Sharapova, described by her coach Robert Landsdorp as a ‘heaven-born tennis player’, dropped her serve in the opening game.
B. n.
1. With plural agreement. With the. Talented, privileged, or exalted people as a class; (also) those of divine or heavenly origin. Also used ironically. Now rare except as implied in sense B. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > [noun] > ability or talent > people having talent
heaven-born1822
talent1838
1822 Examiner 12 May 290/1 The unspeakable financiering of the ‘heaven-born’ [sc. government ministers].
1878 M. Swabey Voices from Abegweet 22 The sainted maiden..joined the ranks of the heaven-born.
?1882 J. A. Allen True & Romantic Love-Story Col. & Mrs. Hutchinson 38 Nature, prodigal of the common sort, Is niggard ever of ideal men. The heaven-born come but once in a long while.
1934 G. W. Russell House of Titans 16 And gods they seemed unto the titan brood..And these, All wonderstruck before the heaven-born Were prostrate.
1993 H. Lockyer Psalms 291 Our names will not be found written in the Lamb's Book of Life, unless, by adoption and regeneration, we have found a place among the heaven-born.
2. In British India: (in the works of Rudyard Kipling) a British person, implying, sometimes ironically, exalted or very high status; (hence) a member of the Indian Civil Service. Also (with the and plural agreement): members of the Indian Civil Service as a class. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > British nation > [noun] > native or inhabitant of Britain
British-maneOE
Briton1679
Britoner1799
Great Britainer1809
Britisher1815
Great British1843
Angrezi1866
Angrez1877
Brit1884
heaven-born1886
Pom1912
Pommy1913
choom1916
pongo1942
1886 R. Kipling Mahommed Din in Civil & Mil. Gaz. 8 Sept. 3/4 ‘Does the Heaven-born want this ball?’ said Imam Din deferentially. The Heaven-born set no particular store by it; but of what use was a polo-ball to a khitmatgar?
1903 Daily Chron. 27 Jan. 5/6 Judges, generals, the Heaven-born and the Army—Rifles, Gurkhas, Hussars, Sappers—are everywhere.
1921 E. Marshall Heart of Little Shikara (1922) 5 The white Heaven-born's cigaret-case was open in his hand.
1997 A. Read & D. Fisher Proudest Day xii. 188 Bose..came fourth in the ICS examinations..in July 1920. This guaranteed him a place as one of the heaven-born, and lifelong prestige, power and security at the very heart of the Raj.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.n.1589