Bornn.
/bɔːn/, U.S. /bɔrn/ Used as a modifier, designating any of various physical concepts or laws, chiefly in quantum mechanics, discovered by or associated with Max Born or arising out of his work.
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1931 Math. Proc. Cambr. Philos. Soc. 1930–31 27 559 This accounts for the fair agreement between calculations using the Born approximation and the results of Appleyard.
1966 Zeitschrift für Physik 190 394 This method is valid for every potential strength, whereas this is not true for Born's series.
2016 A. Khrennikov Probability & Randomness vi. 185 The basic constraint is given by the Born rule which is treated as an empirical rule reflecting some basic features of nature.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2020; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
bornadj.
/bɔːn/, U.S. /bɔrn/ I. In predicative use.Since at least the second half of the 18th cent. born has not been treated as part of bear v.1 In predicative use, born occurs chiefly in to be born, used as virtually an intransitive verb (e.g. It is as natural to die, as to be born; she had been born to an upper-class family); also frequently in non-finite postmodifying clauses (e.g. children born to women in this age-group). Born also occurs after to be and other copular verbs sometimes in a more adjectival capacity, e.g. teenagers are born to experiment; he seems born for the role he has been playing.
1.
a. Of a person or animal.
(a) Brought forth as offspring; brought into independent existence. Often with prepositional phrase specifying the time, place, or circumstances of birth, as in born in 1932, born into a musical family, born into poverty, born with a heart defect, born at the hospital, etc.See also bear v.1 24a.
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eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 855 Itermon Hraþraing, se wæs geboren in þære earce.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1123 Þes cwenes canceler, Godefreið wæs gehaten, he wæs boren of Luuein.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 124 Al were þurch Miracle iboren.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xlvi. 3 That ben born [a1425 L.V. borun] of my wombe.
c1410 (c1390) G. Chaucer Sir Thopas (Harl. 7334) (1885) l. 1908 I-bore [c1405 Hengwrt Yborn] he was in fer conntre.
?a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Harl. 3943) (1883) ii. 143 For neuere seth tyme þat she was bor [a1413 Pierpont Morgan born] To know a thing desirid she so fast.
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 191 Wommen maken gret sorwe whan hire children ben yborn.
1612 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) ii. 11 It is as naturall to die, as to bee borne.
1619 A. Munday tr. N. de Herberay Anc. Hist. Amadis de Gaule i. xvii. 200/1 Imprisoned by the accusation of a Dwarffe, the most villainous creature that euer was born.
1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. 129 He may be born out of the realm of England yet within the liegeance.
1698 J. Bernard tr. Suetonius Lives Rom. Emperors I. 290 The same day there was born a Calf as white as Snow, with Horns upon his Head.
1711 Ld. Shaftesbury Characteristicks III. Misc. iii. i. 144 Had it happen'd to one of us British-Men to have been born at Sea, cou'd we not therefore properly be call'd British-Men?
1866 W. Henderson Notes Folk Lore Northern Counties i. 2 The child that is born on the Sabbath-day, Is blithe and bonny, good and gay.
1881 F. C. Selous Hunter's Wanderings Afr. viii. 131 Out of a litter of pups, born in the country and of acclimatised parents, some always die of ‘fly’ symptoms.
1955 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 9 July 100/2 It is also of value at the time of crowning to tell the patient that the baby is being born, and that she will shortly hear it cry.
1993 Mother & Baby Feb. 102/1 Maxine..and Claire..were both born by caesarean section—one emergency, the other elective.
2017 Church Times 20 Jan. 31/1 Michael John Ovey was born in December 1958 on the Isle of Wight.
(b) With of or to specifying the person or animal who gives birth.
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OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) iii. 25 Swa swa he gesceop his agene moder Marian, and siððan wæs geboren of hire.
a1250 Wohunge ure Lauerd in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 275 Þu..nam of hire flesch mon born of wummon.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xvii. l. 95 (MED) Þe blode of a barn borne of a mayde..penaunce and passioun of þat babi.
1543 ( Chron. J. Hardyng (1812) 37 His mother dyed..Anone after as he was of hir bore.
1889 J. H. Merrill Amer. & Eng. Encycl. Law IX. 760 A colt born of a mare which is held under mortgage belongs to the holder of the legal title, the mortgagee.
1966 Listener 10 Feb. 199/1 It is necessary to know both the number of legitimate children born to women in this age-group and the number of married women at risk.
2018 Bhekisisa (Johannesburg) (Nexis) 4 Oct. Fewer than 2% of babies born to HIV-positive mothers are born with the virus.
(c) With of or to specifying the child's parentage or lineage.
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OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Exod. (Claud.) vi. 16 Her telð embe Moyses cynryn & Aarones: hy wæron geboren of Leuies mægðe.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 379 I woll nat fyght with no knyght but he be of blood royall, that is to seye, owther kynges son othir quenys son, borne of pryncis other of princesses.
1578 W. Hilton tr. Urbanus Regius Serm. Christ on Way to Emaus f. 177 Messias is called Dauid, because he was born of Dauids stock.
1695 I. Mather Solemn Advice to Young Men 56 Especially such as have been born of Godly Parents..will have a sad account to give at the day of Judgment.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 123. ¶4 Having a Son born to him.
1836 G. W. Lovell Provost of Bruges iii. ii. 38 I was born of humble stock.
1992 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 17 May 20/2 She had been born to an upper-class English family but had become a showgirl and later a journalist because she found society boring.
2005 T. Hall Salaam Brick Lane vi. 128 The second eldest of four children born of immigrant Bangladeshi parents.
(d) With under. Having one's birth at a time associated with a specified sign of the zodiac, its ruling planet, or a particular constellation; subject to the star sign specified.Earlier currency of this sense is implied in to be born under an (un)lucky star and variants: see quot. ?1473 at Phrases 4.
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1493 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (Pynson) i. xxii. sig. cixv/1 If he be borne vndre some signe they say he shalbe a fissher, & vndre some a monyour, & vndre some a clerk vndre some a man of armes.
?1530 tr. Compost of Ptholomeus sig. p.iv. He which is born vnder Sagittarius..shal..go ferre to deserte places..& shall retourne with great gaynes.
1664 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders (new ed.) i. sig. c2v Neither is it natural to all those, which are born under one Constellation, to have like Influences.
1785 A. Thomson Mem. Pythagorean I. xi. 164 A king who is born under Aries is destined to make a great prince.
1892 Knight Errant 1 46 To himself.., he seems a Saturnian—that is, one born under the influence of the planet Saturn.
2002 N. Drury Dict. Esoteric 302/1 Those born under the sign of Taurus..are also said to make excellent friends, are fond of music, and are generous with money.
b. That has been given birth to and exists in the world; living, in existence. Now somewhat rare.
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lOE St. Margaret (Corpus Cambr.) (1994) 154 Ic eom þin þeowa clæna and ungewæmmed fram eallum mannum, þe geborene bið.
1489 W. Caxton De Roye's Doctrinal of Sapyence xl. sig. Fv We demaunde..that he shewe hym by grace..to them that be now born, & that ben yet to be born.
1589 W. Warner Albions Eng. (new ed.) v. xxviii. 124 Full deere they were to me vnborne, at birth, and borne, and now.
1685 D. Wheare Method & Order Reading 106 You are born in those times that require the well fixing your mind by Examples of Constancy.
2007 E. Haan tr. V. Bourne in Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 97 145 Kindly Charon (for eventually your boat awaits us all at some point—both those of us who are born and those who will be born).
c. Of a physical or material thing: brought forth; brought into existence, created.Quot. a1500 may be an example of bear v.1 1a.
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a1500 (a1450) tr. Secreta Secret. (Ashm. 396) (1977) 66 (MED) That stone, that fighteth with waters and wyndes..is born in the Mediterrayn See.
1656 W. D. tr. Paracelsus Dispensatory & Chirurgery 91 When any thing is born, it hath in it self the representative of the whole world.
1850 C. Mackay Egeria I. 86 The spring-time buds Are born of winter snow.
1938 Amer. Home June 15/1 This is the people's art; it has nothing to do with queerisms or elaborate theories. It is born of utility.
2000 Art Rev. Dec. 28/1 The website..was set up a year ago to showcase recent graduates' work, and the gallery has been born from the site's success.
d. figurative.
(a) Of an abstract or immaterial thing: brought into existence; arising, resulting from. With of, from, or out of specifying the source, as in born from a desire, born out of necessity, etc.
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the world > existence and causation > existence > [verb (intransitive)] > come into existence
awakenc885
waxc888
arisec950
beOE
comeOE
aspringc1000
atspringOE
growOE
to come upOE
inrisea1300
breedc1385
upspringc1386
takec1391
to come in?c1430
engender?1440
uprise1471
braird?a1500
risea1513
insurde1521
insurge1523
spring1538
to start up1568
exsurge1578
upstart1580
become1605
born1609
1609 S. Daniel Ciuile Warres (rev. ed.) viii. 215 Those respects, which were Borne of a present feeling, mov'd him most.
1745 E. Young Complaint: Night the Eighth 40 False Joys, indeed, are born from Want of Thought.
1775 E. Burke Speech Amer. Taxation 52 These distinctions, born of our unhappy contest.
1993 P. Ackroyd House of Dr. Dee (1994) vi. 248 Knowledge born out of fear and ambition.
2007 Independent 25 Apr. 3/2 When it [sc. rap] first burst onto the scene in the 1980s, it was a powerful, even revolutionary new medium of expression born of the frustrations and deprivations of the black urban experience.
(b) Of an abstract or immaterial thing (now esp. an idea, organization, or movement): brought into existence; created, initiated, founded. Without the source specified.
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the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > beginning > [adjective] > that has (been) begun
ybegunne?a1475
begun1483
broached1547
commenced1588
initiated1611
born1651
initiate1767
1651 J. Ellistone tr. J. Böhme Signatura Rerum xii. 143 The Time is born, where that which is lost shall be again found.
1714 W. Broome in Orig. Poems & Transl. 22 When her Love is born, his dies.
1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia I. Pref. p. viii The Roman Empire and the Christian Church, born into the world almost at the same moment.
1857 C. Heavysege Saul (1869) 127 Lo, the breaking light is born!
1891 L. L. W. H. Glenerne Unrest 106 And the Lute that sang when the day was born, Is veiled from the souly sight.
1936 Stage June 51 The idea was born after experimenting with some Florida moss and a stove-pipe hat.
2000 Transition No. 80. 21/2 The movement was born across the river in Congo-Brazzaville in the 1970s, but it was in Zaire that it really made its mark.
e. poetic. figurative. Of a celestial object: that appears; that rises.
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1657 R. Hunt Bow of Jonathan 9 As the morning starre born at the break of day.
1866 B. Taylor Palm & Pine 268 What time the morning-star is born.
2004 T. Moore Travels with my Donkey (2006) 307 It was an almost Himalayan morning..and we were out in it before the sun was born.
2. Entitled to an inheritance, birthright, privilege, etc., by birth.
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society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > [adjective] > resting on hereditary right > entitled by birth or descent
borneOE
kindlya1300
eOE Metres of Boethius (2009) xxvi. 46 Þeoda æghwilc hæfdon heora hlaford for ðone hehstan god and weorðodon swa swa wuldres cining, gif he to ðæm rice wæs on rihte boren.
a1488 Tropenell Cartulary (1908) I. 276 Cosyne to maister Robert Wayvile, bisshoppe of Salisbury, born to no lond, neither to none armes.
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 148. ⁋9 Those who were born to his protection.
1844 G. L. Craik Sketches Hist. Lit. & Learning Eng. II. 221 His son, though born to the throne..received a schoolmastering fit for a bishop.
2010 Rev. Politics 72 761 Born to a fortune, JFK easily outspent all of his opponents.
3. With noun or adjective complement.
a.
(a) With noun or adjective complement indicating the condition or status of a person at birth, or a position to which a person is entitled or destined to from birth.
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the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > [adjective] > born
bornOE
prognatec1600
enixed1607
nascenta1624
native1655
OE Beowulf (2008) 1703 Þæt ðes eorl wære geboren betera.
OE Ælfric Homily (Vitell. C.v) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 216 He wæs soð God & soð mann geboren, Dauides cynnes, of þam clænan mædene.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 536 Þa ænswerede Brutus, þe wes borene duke.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. ii. 2 Wher is he, that is borun kyng of Jewis?
1560 J. Knox Answer Great Nomber Blasphemous Cauillations 69 Who hath sinned, whether this man or his parentes? that he should be born blind?
1700 J. Dunton Art Living Incognito ii. 15 We are born very poor, and must also die without carrying any thing with us.
1789 T. Holcroft tr. Voltaire Let. in tr. Frederick II Posthumous Wks. VI. xxxii. 174 We are not born able to walk, but all who are born with two legs will walk some day or other.
1861 De Bow's Rev. Feb. 215 They are not born white negroes in the New World, however poor, as the poor are born in the old country, but all born free and equal.
1883 American 7 186 Born, reared and educated a Switzer, he had the qualities of his origin and training.
1936 O'D. Browne Man. Pract. Obstetr. xix. 170 If an infant is born alive but never breathes, it is said to be stillborn.
2002 N.Y. Times Mag. 6 Oct. 108 I'm on disability for my back these days. I also cat-sit for a living... My only regret is that I wasn't born a trust-fund brat.
(b) With noun or adjective complement indicating a person's sex at birth.
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1594 R. Carew tr. J. Huarte Exam. Mens Wits xv. 271 If the seed whereof she was engendred had been of that temperature [sc. predominatly hot], she should haue been born a man, and not a woman.
1698 J. Pechey Compl. Midwife's Pract. (ed. 5) iv. vi. 275 Those who see the comfort of having wise Children, must indeavour that they be born Male.
1811 W. Ward Acct. Hindoos IV. 352 A..[Hindu] woman who despises her husband, will suffer in hell..; then be born a female, and..will long suffer the miseries of widowhood.
1955 San Francisco Chron. 7 Aug. 15/1 Things were not as they should be with her sex life. Dr. Ali decided that she should have been born a man, and began plastic surgery.
2014 Z. Nawaz Laughing all Way to Mosque 169 Women were being treated like truant children, being punished for being born female.
b. With adjective complement. Demonstrating a specified behaviour effortlessly or thoroughly; that is innately (endowed with the trait specified).See also born tired at Phrases 10.
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1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. ix. 318 Men that are born martial, & naturally made for wars.
1687 B. Le Bovier de Fontenelle Lucian's Ghost 96 'Tis better luck to be born witty than rich.
1853 Eliza Cook's Jrnl. 14 May 44/1 Some are born cheerful.
1906 S. R. Crockett Fishers of Men 126 ‘Marthe, you were born ungrateful,’ remonstrated Pat.
2013 @lovelylisaj 15 Sept. (accessed 6 June 2019) Ryan was born middle-aged, bless 'im.
c. With proper noun complement, indicating the name given at birth to a person who later took another name.In earliest use with reference to the maiden name of a married woman; cf. née adj. 1.
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1858 Examiner 24 July 468/3 Mrs. Schimmelpenninck, born Mary Anne Galton, was the daughter of Samuel Galton.
1874 Beeton's Men of Age 211/1 Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft (born Godwin), an authoress, and wife of the preceding.
1910 Salt Lake Tribune 20 Nov. 19/5 The great American humorist whose pen name..is famous all over the world. Mark Twain, born Samuel Clemens.
2016 Daily Mirror (N. Ireland ed.) (Nexis) 23 Jan. 3 Born Reg Dwight, Elton..had his first big hit with Your Song in 1971.
4.
a. Destined, fated to, for, or to be something; naturally suited to; having a natural ability for. Cf. to the manner born at manner n. 3b.In quot. a1616 with allusion to Phrases 5.
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the mind > will > necessity > fate or destiny as determining events > [adjective] > fated or predestined
born1357
destinablec1374
destinalc1374
fatalc1374
predestinatec1384
foreordainedc1420
ordinate?a1425
destiny?1473
preordinatea1475
prefinitec1475
pointed1523
predestined1545
determined1546
ordinated1562
predestinated1571
preordained?1580
fore-appointeda1586
predeterminate1601
predetermined1601
destinated1604
destinate1605
destined1609
predesigned1668
predefinite1678
cut and dry1710
fated1715
weirded1820
laid-down1839
foreordinated1858
predesignated1883
predestinatory1893
preset1926
predefined1929
predestine1962
bashert1963
J. Gaytryge Lay Folks' Catech. (York Min.) (1901) l. 537 Thar ar we er kyndely borne for to swink Als the foughel is kindly born for to flegh.
1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. I5 Oh, I was borne to it, it was my destonie.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. i. 31 If he be not borne to bee hang'd, our case is miserable. View more context for this quotation
1681 W. Robertson Phraseologia Generalis 668/2 He is a mere glutton, born for the fatting of his belly, not for praise and glory.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 136 Born to bitter Fate. View more context for this quotation
1706 N. Rowe Ulysses i. i. 231 Thou Tyrant born to be a Nation's Punishment.
1738 tr. C. Rollin Anc. Hist. (ed. 2) II. 214 To inspire him with a noble and prudent assurance, so necessary for those that are born to command.
1751 T. Gray Elegy xiv. 8 Full many a flower is born to blush unseen.
1955 Washington Post 23 July 18/1 President Eisenhower seems born for the role he has been playing at Geneva, and he has been playing it supremely well.
2005 Nation 13 June 17/2 He describes Washington as someone born to greatness, gushing about his commanding presence, his magnificent physique.
2015 B. Stanley Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! (U.S. ed.) xxvii. 240 Born to boogie he may have been, but he couldn't touch the spaced-out avant rock style of Hendrix.
b. With to. Familiar with or accustomed to from birth. Cf. to the manner born at manner n. 3b.
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1771 tr. J.-H. Maubert de Gouvest Lett. French Nation II. xviii. 15 The particulars of rural oeconomy amuse but do not employ him who is not born to them.
1879 J. Hingston Austral. Abroad 135 The most agreeable of our number were the two Armenians, polite and intelligent men, who talked English as if born to it.
2005 R. Tope Cotswold Killing x. 147 The farm's gone down the pan, just about. Lionel was never very good at it. Not born to it, you see.
5. With in or with. Of a quality, ability, etc.: innate, present in a person from birth.
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1605 W. C. tr. C. Paschal False Complaints i. 28 This Nobilitie, which thou boastest to be born with thee.
1631 T. Heywood England's Elizabeth (1641) 52 He was..In the liberall arts so frequent, that they appeared rather innate and born with him, then..acquired.
1710 W. Nicholls Comment Bk. Common-prayer sig. Rrr2 There is a sort of Original Corruption in our Nature,..born with us into the World.
1934 Mod. Psychologist June 2/1 (advt.) All of us are the victims of fears. These fears are born with us.
2003 College Eng. 66 140 The uniqueness is not born in her as an essence of her biological makeup.
II. In attributive use and as a postmodifier.† 11. Scottish. Designating a native of a specified place, chiefly as born man. Obsolete.Also with in.
6. Forming the second element in compounds.
a. Preceded by adverb, adjective, or noun, forming compounds with senses relating to time.
(a) Combining with adjectives and adverbs to form adjectives denoting the time of birth relative to due date or expectation.In quot. eOE showing Old English sīðboren late born, later born, in use with reference to lambs, reflecting misinterpretation of the Latin phrase post fetantes (which refers to ewes, not lambs).
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the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > character or nature > of the nature or character of [phrase] > be so by the conditions of one's birth
borneOE
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) lxxvii. 69 Sustulit eum de gregibus ouium, de postfętantes accepit eum : ahof hine of eowdum scepa of ðæm siðborenum onfeng hine.
OE Metrical Charm: For Delayed Birth (Harl. 585) 11 Mid cwican cilde, nalæs mid cwellendum [prob. read cwelendum], mid fulborenum, nalæs mid fægan.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Astrophel & Stella (1591) 28 Sighes stolne out, or kild before full borne.
1767 tr. J. Astruc Treat. Dis. Women III. iii. xi. 170 I should with difficulty consider..[these observations] all as false, if it had been physicians..who had seen these pretended late born infants come into the world.
1847 G. T. Gream Remarks on Diet of Children iv. 58 Immediately after the birth of a prematurely born child, care should be taken to procure a wetnurse.
1996 Farmers Weekly 22 Nov. 41/2 Where the calf was late born or did not receive as much milk..it has the potential to finish well on an intensive cereal system.
(b) Combining with adjectives and adverbs to form adjectives and nouns denoting order or position of birth relative to other children of the same parent or parents.firstborn, eldest-born, last-born, youngest-born, etc.: see the first element.
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OE Genesis A (1931) 973 Oðer his to eorðan elnes tilode, se wæs ærboren.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1472 Esau was firmest boren.
1660 T. Fuller Mixt Contempl. ii. x. 16 Let us all name our next-born child (it will fit both Sexes) Manasseh.
1688 J. Patrick Virgin Mary Misrepresented ii. 109 Seth, the Third born Son of Adam, believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 9 Nursing the sickly babe, her latest-born.
1914 K. Pearson On Handicapping of First-born 51 Deaths from typhus or pneumonia do not weigh more heavily on the first-born than on later-born children.
2015 Times 12 June (Arts section) 3/1 Then the second-born child arrives, and it's a bit more..whevs. Yeah. You did it again. Well done.
(c) Combining with adjectives and adverbs to form adjectives and nouns indicating that a child was born recently.Recorded earliest in newborn adj. 1a.
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a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1342 (MED) A new born barn lay in þe croppe.
1653 W. Harvey Anat. Exercitations lvi. 330 In Children lately born, the proportion of the bulk of the Body is a pretty deal larger then that of the Limbs, untill they are able to stand, and go.
2003 S. Young Music with Under-fours iii. 23 One of the first links between hearing before and after birth was the discovery that reproducing heartbeat sounds could soothe newly born babies.
(d) Combining with nouns to form adjectives denoting the time of day or year in which a birth took place. literal and figurative.Recorded earliest in night-born adj. at night n. and int. Compounds 2c.
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1610 R. Niccols England's Eliza in Mirour for Magistrates (new ed.) 784 Errors night-borne children.
1854 B. F. Taylor January & June i. 73 Autumn Clouds are lazy and sullen.., but your June-born cloud is ‘no such person’.
1902 Amer. Med. 22 Feb. 315/1 The summer-born show a slight superiority mentally to the winter-born.
1993 Racing Post 10 Nov. (Nexis) 30 The star of the show was a March-born colt.
b. Preceded by adverb, adjective, or noun, forming compounds with senses relating to status or condition.
(a) Combining with adjectives and adverbs to form nouns and adjectives indicating the social status a child inherits at birth.free-born, high-born, lowly-born, well-born, etc.: see the first element.
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eOE Metres of Boethius (partly from transcript of damaged MS) (2009) xxvi. 52 Sceolde eac wesan Apollines dohtor diorboren..gumrinca gyden.
lOE Laws of Ælfred (Rochester) xi. §5. 56 Gif þis bettborenran [altered from borenran; eOE Corpus Cambr. 173 borenran] wifmen gelimpe, weaxe seo bot be ðam were.
c1330 Horn Child l. 21 in J. Hall King Horn (1901) 179 Alle were þai frely born.
1680 N. Lee Theodosius i. 2 Marina and Flavilla, two young Virgins, Imperial born, cast in the fairest mould.
1765 I. Bickerstaff Maid of Mill i. v. 10 To what purpose could a man of his distinction cast his eyes on a girl, poor, meanly born?
1847 Leaflets of Memory 3 33 It can scarcely be called strange that the young Lord Francis Ballingham..should find in his heart, in spite of his head, to fall in love with an humbly born, dowerless girl.
1899 Vanity Fair 9 Nov. 310/1 One readily accepts this strange challenge; wagering that he shall prove a more presentable nakedness among the highly than among the middling born.
2010 Irish Arts Rev. 27 92 The aristocratically born yet financially disadvantaged seventeen-year-old girl was strategically married off by her uncle.
(b) Combining with adjectives to form adjectives and nouns denoting condition at or by birth.blind-born, still-born, etc.: see the first element.
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eOE Laws of Ælfred (Corpus Cambr. 173) xiv. 58 Gif mon sie dumb oððe deaf geboren, þæt he ne mæge synna onsecggan ne geandettan, bete se fæder his misdæda.
OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) xciv. 138 Gyf deadboren [?a1200 Harl. 6258B deadboren] cyld sy on wifes innoðe genim þysse ylcan wyrte þry cyþas.
1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft xv. xxxv. 458 As soone as the priest approched vnto hir, to heare hir confession, she, whome all Cathalonia knew to be dumbe borne, spake..as though she had neuer beene dumbe.
1855 Lady's Newspaper 23 June 389/1 It is surely not too much to say, hundreds of strong-born men, owe their lives to the presence and exertion of weak-born women.
2009 Evening Gaz. (Nexis) 21 Oct. 7 He became one of the youngest deaf-born children in the country to receive a cochlear implant.
(c) Combining with nouns to form adjectives and nouns indicating parentage.Recorded earliest in cheves-born adj. at chevese n. Derivatives.God-born, woman-born, etc.: see the first element.
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OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) x. 88 On ðam ylcan geare wearð eac ofslegen Ecgfridus se æðela cyning..and his cyfesborena broðor siððan rixode.
lOE Laws: Dunsæte (Corpus Cambr.) v. 376 Gyf Wealh Ænglisne man ofslea, ne ðearf he hine hide[r] ofer buton be healfan were gyldan, ne Ænglisc Wylisne geon ofer ðe ma, sy he ðegenboren, sy he ceorlboren.
c1175 ( Laws: Instituta Cnuti (Paris) ii. lix. 73 In domo hominis quem Angli uocant cherlboren [altered from cherlman].
1698 W. Walker Victorious Love i. 6 He, as he disdain'd he were not Gyant born, Mow'd all around, and made a pile of dead.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela II. 202 She call'd me painted Dirt, Baby-face, Waiting-maid, Beggar-brat, and Beggar-born.
1839 G. Darley Nepenthe ii. 31 Antiquity, thou Titan-born! That..look'st with dim but settled eye O'er thy deep lap.
2009 Proc. Royal Soc.: Biol. Sci. 276 1295/1 The production of gynes that are queen born is generally beneficial to both the queen and the workers.
c. Preceded by adjective, noun, or adverb, forming compounds with senses relating to origin or manner of birth.
(a) Combining with nouns and adjectives to form adjectives indicating place of birth or nationality at birth.In quot. OE probably to be interpreted as showing inversion of the elements due to the influence of Latin word order in an interlinear gloss.British born, foreign-born, sea-born, etc.: see the first element.
ΚΠ
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. Pref. Tertius Lucas medicus natione Syrus Antiocensis : ðirdda lece geboren Sirisc ðara burug.
1439–40 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Nov. 1439 §14. m. 15 Every persone housholder not English borne.
1670 Commission & Articles Ward-mote Inquest in Calthrop's Rep. Cases London (new ed.) 142 That you suffer no Alien or Son of any born an alien to be of the Common Councel. [Note] Strange born.
1751 E. Pendleton Let. 17 Oct. in Lett. & Papers (1967) I. 5 Twenty choice Slaves, the great Part Virginia-born.
1760 J. Langhorne Job iii. 75 Tho' river-born, he leaves the sportive Floods.
1867 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. iv. 189 The Danish-born Bernard.
1968 Kingston (Ont.) Whig-Standard 27 Nov. 16/1 The seed of Orienteering in Canada was planted by Swedish-born Bjorn Kjellstrom, one of the founders and strongest supporters of the sport.
2006 Time Out N.Y. 12 Oct. 86/4 The Jamaican-born, London-based writer presents his new collection of ‘reggae poetry’.
(b) Chiefly poetic and literary. Combining with nouns to form adjectives denoting the place or substance from which a person, creature, or thing is born or arises.Recorded earliest in earth-born adj. 1.fire-born, foam-born, thigh-born, etc.: see the first element. Often with reference to figures of Greek mythology.
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1591 E. Spenser Ruines of Rome in Complaints sig. R3 Renewing in themselues that rage vnkinde, Which whilom did those earthborn brethren blinde.
1682 E. Settle Absalom Senior 23 A Brood more abject than Niles Slime-born Race.
1863 T. S. Norgate tr. Homer Odyssey iii. 55 None else is This but She, the Forager, Jove's Head-born Daughter.
2002 Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. 122 253/2 Plants are included in the traditional listing of births found in the Upanisads and Jainism, viz., as ‘sprout-born’ (udbhijja).
(c) figurative. Preceded by adjective or noun, forming adjectives specifying the place where a thing originated.
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1614 A. I. in A. Gorges tr. Lucan Pharsalia To Transl. sig. A5v [His] Spaine-borne, Rome-bred, Muse-nurc't wit.
1876 B. Smith Mohammed & Mohammedanism (rev. ed.) iv. 300 The human body and human life itself have rarely..been invested with that sanctity with which Christianity alone of Eastern-born religions regards them.
1984 L. Dahl Stormy Weather (1995) i. 3 Jazz had its beginnings..when European melodies, harmonies and instruments were combined with..African-born rhythms.
2010 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 24 July 14 A New York-born movement that provides long-term independent housing..for the chronically homeless.
(d) Preceded by adjective, adverb, or noun, forming adjectives indicating the method by which a baby is delivered.
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1903 Med. Bull. (Philadelphia) Dec. 468/1 Case II, Mrs. C., has 3 Cæsarean-born children.
1974 A. Oakley Housewife vi. 120 She was forceps born; she was forty-eight hours cot-nursed, and I didn't actually see her.
2016 Toronto Star (Nexis) 25 July e1 Babies born by Caesarian section face obstacles in building a diverse microbiome as they don't receive the same rich bacteria vaginally born babies do.
7.
a. That has been given birth to and exists in the world; living, in existence.
ΚΠ
OE Manumission, Durham in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1893) III. 538 [Geatfleda] geaf freols.., þæt is Ecceard smið, & Ælstan & his wif, & eall heora ofsprinc boren & unboren.
lOE Laws: Ælfred & Guthrum's Peace (Corpus Cambr.) Prol. 126 Ðis is ðæt frið, ðæt Ælfred cyninc & Gyðrum cyning..gecweden habbað & mid aðum gefeostnod for hy sylfe & for heora gingran, ge for geborene ge for ungeborene.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) v. l. 155 Thus seyde I neuere er now to womman borne.
1646 J. Cotton Grounds & Ends of Baptisme of Children of Faithfull iv. 156 Isaac himself when he was an Infant born, hee was not as then born anew of the promise and spirit of Grace.
1757 S. Niles True Scripture-doctrine Orig. Sin 50 How can we suppose, that any Infants, born or unborn, ever see the Kingdom of Heaven, unless God sanctify's or regenerates them?
1913 Amer. Jrnl Nursing 13 138 There are three things at which we must aim: the saving of all born babies..from premature death [etc].
2009 S. Klusendorf Case for Life i. iii. 67 He knows almost everyone he talks to believes in the basic human rights of all born people, regardless of differences or disabilities.
b. As an intensifier: (any man or woman) living; (any man or woman) at all.Frequently in negative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [adjective] > existent or existing
bornOE
sustaineda1450
beingc1460
essential1535
existent1535
extant1561
existing1578
eventual1752
beënt1865
OE Will of Wulfric (Sawyer 1536) in P. H. Sawyer Charters of Burton Abbey (1979) 55 Ic wylle..þæt hig beon mund & freond & forespreocan into ðære stowe wið ælcne geborenne mann.
a1425 (c1333–52) L. Minot Poems (1914) 27 No man born wald ȝe forbere.
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) x. Prol. l. 41 The Fader, of nane generat, creat ne boir.
1654 J. Reading Antidote against Anabaptism 16 The mercy and grace of God is to be denied to no man born.
1827 Port Folio 22 421/1 Never think you to cry after her, Master Connor,..nor for any woman born, barrin' one.
1889 Atchison (Kansas) Daily Champion 14 Sept. 3/4 What's goin' to become of her if she goes to makin' carpets both when she's asleep and awake?..No born woman could stand it, and it'll be mighty hard on all of us.
2015 @belperbee 30 Sept. in twitter.com (accessed 6 June 2019) There ain't a man born who doesn't make mistakes.
8. Having a specified status, nationality, etc., at or since birth. Often following the noun, as in a gentleman born.idiot born, born fool: see the other element. See also born idiot n. at Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > character or nature > [adjective] > natural, born, or by birth
bornOE
kinda1375
naturate1509
natural1598
natural-born1835
the world > people > nations > native people > [adjective] > belonging to one by being
nativea1475
born1518
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 242 Agricolaus on ærne mergen gegaderode his geborenan magas to his manfullan geþeahte.
a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 55 Weo beon swa his sunes iborene.
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 7780 Þe childer y spac of bifore Ywain þe hende and Ywain bastard ybore.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 546 Thyn owene Squyer and thy born man.
1518 in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1846) 3rd Ser. I. 192 A Spanyard born whicht is a good artiller and also conyng in orgons and diverse instrumentes of musike.
1582 Bible (Rheims) Mark vii. 26 The woman was a Gentile, a Syrophœnician borne.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xvii. 89 I a poor helpless Girl..shall put on Lady-Airs to a Gentlewoman born.
1881 ‘M. Twain’ Prince & Pauper I. v. 47 I am the meanest among thy subjects, being a pauper born.
2019 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 19 July I left feeling imprisoned in my skin in my home country—a born citizen who will never truly belong.
9. Combining with complementary adjectives to form adjectives and nouns indicating the condition of a person at birth.
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a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 773 So strong is no mannes wit, Which thurgh beaute ne mai be drawe To love, and stonde under the lawe Of thilke bore frele kinde.
1517 R. Torkington Oldest Diarie Englysshe Trav. (1884) 52 Our savyor gaff sight to the born blynde man.
1878 J. Morley Diderot I. 85 The born-blind are at first without physical delicacy.
2018 B. Fritz Big Picture i. i. 15 The born-wealthy, double-Harvard-degree-holding CEO didn't need external signs of power..so was happy to take an office of maybe half the size.
10. Having an innate ability to acquire or excel at a position, activity, or role. Often following the noun, as in a poet born.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > [adjective] > innate or natural > of a person
born1551
original1720
inborn1818
1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia ii. sig. Ov Borne aduersaryes and enemyes one to an other.
1650 in R. Elton Compl. Body Art Mil. sig. †6 I was no Poet born.
1878 J. Morley Diderot I. 286 The resource of the born journalist.
2017 Sowetan (Johannesburg) (Nexis) 10 Mar. A born entertainer, he was also a comedian whose talent attracted friends and admirers from all walks of life like a moth to a flame.
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c1600 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. 195 Captaine hendersoun ane borne man of hadingtoune.
c1600 Hist. & Life James VI (1825) 90 This Bell was a borne man in Stirling.
1644 in S. Ree Rec. Elgin (1908) II. 248 Johne Donaldsone..being ane borne bairn of Elgin.
12. Of a quality, ability, state, etc.: innate; present in a person from birth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > [adjective] > innate or natural
i-cundeeOE
fleshly971
kindlyOE
kindc1175
naturalc1275
kindc1390
innatea1420
nativea1425
inborn1513
innative1513
habitual1526
ingenerate1531
instincta1538
innated1545
inset1545
of one's nativity1582
inbreda1592
connatural1599
prognatec1600
ingenious1601
ingenit1604
congenite1610
connativea1618
intuitive1621
infusive1630
habituous1633
veined1633
genial1646
connatea1652
relollacean1654
relollaceous1657
relolleous1662
congenial1664
complanted1668
ingrown1670
ingenerated1677
unborrowed1704
cogenite1712
born1741
naturable1771
unacquired1793
congenerous1813
congenital1848
ingrain1852
indigenousa1864
ingenital1886
wired-in1957
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxii. 243 This..must be born Dignity,—born Discretion.
1833 T. P. Thompson Exercises (1842) III. 465 It is part of our born-thralldom; and we must get rid of it, like the negroes, when we can.
2010 S. Johnson Force of Nature xvii. 128 She sobbed, forcing out a single tear for effect, pressing her hand to her breast with born stage presence.
Phrases
P1. † a. that (ever) one was born: used as an expression of distress, despair, or regret. Obsolete (archaic in later use).
ΚΠ
OE Vercelli Homilies (1992) xv. 257 Wa us þæs þæt we æfre gestrynde wæron oððe geborene.
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 8419 Allas Þat ich euer born was! Who schuld euer of me ȝelp?
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4966 Allas..þat euer we ware Born.
1607 T. Heywood Woman Kilde with Kindnesse H2v Alas that euer I was born, what shall I do, for my poor mistris.
a1676 T. Wadsworth Remains (1680) 16 Like a wretch that I am, wo that ever I was born, I sold his favour.
1868 W. Morris in Fortn. Rev. Aug. 143 Ah God! that ever I was born!
b. to wish one had never been born and variants: to experience such profound suffering or distress that one would prefer not to exist (chiefly in hyperbolic use). Now often as a threat or promise that a person will deeply regret some undertaking or experience; esp. in you'll wish you'd never been born.In early use sometimes with allusion to the biblical figure of Job, who expressed such a sentiment in reaction to the ordeals to which (with God's permission) he was subjected by Satan (Job 3:3; see quot. a1382).
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OE St. Christopher (Vitell. A.xv) in S. Rypins Three Old Eng. Prose Texts (1924) 68 Eadig wær ðu Dagnus gi[f] þu næfre geboren nære þu ðe þus wæl[grimlice] hetst tintregian þillicne godes cemp[an].
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Job iii. 3 Pershe the dai in the whiche I am born, and the nyȝt in the which it is seid, A man is conceyued.
c1450 (a1400) Orologium Sapientiæ in Anglia (1888) 10 360 (MED) Hit hadde be better to me ȝif I had neuer be borne, or ellis þat I hadde perisched in my moder wombe, þanne þat I hadde so vnprofitabil spendid þe tyme þat was graunted to me forto do penauns.
1627 J. Barlow Seasonable Disc. Spirituall Stedfastnesse 169 The gracelesse man, shall tremble at a paper-Canon; quake, at the wagging of a leafe..; And wish, he had never bin born.
1741 J. Duchal Serm. Death J. Abernethy 9 What shall become of me now?.. Would I had never been born, or had not lived to see this day.
1857 Edinb. Dissected xxvii. 325 Here Mrs Macalpine flung herself down on a chair, and..burst into a flood of tears. She wished, like Job, that she had never been born.
1896 H. Hill Guilty Gold xx. 223 The chap that's hurt my nipper, if I puts hand on him, will wish to God he'd never been born.
1985 H. Halkin tr. A. Oz Perfect Peace (1993) ix. 182 Either he's out of here..by tomorrow, or I'll do something so terrible you'll wish you'd never been born.
2017 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 22 Nov. Cider gives you a hangover so bad you'll wish you'd never been born.
P2.
a. to be born and bred (also to be bred and born): (originally) to undergo gestation and be brought forth as offspring; (now) to be brought forth as offspring and raised in a specified place or manner.
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c1300 Body & Soul (Laud Misc. 108) (1889) 45 Of o wymman born and bredde, Body, were we boþe tvo.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 4209 In þe first he sal be born and bredde, And in þe secunde be nuryst.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 113 Where he was born and breden.
1574 J. Baret Aluearie B 1067 Wee are so borne and bredde of nature.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. x. sig. K4 That was both borne and bred In heuenly throne.
1614 J. Cooke Greene's Tu Quoque in I. Reed Dodsley's Sel. Coll. Old Plays (1780) VII. 19 A wench that has been bred and born in an alley.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) i. ii. 20 I was bred and borne Not three houres trauaile from this very place.
1729 W. Law Serious Call xviii. 326 Born and bred in families that have no Religion.
1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 275 He was born and bred in your house.
2005 N.Y. Times Mag. 2 Oct. 102/2 A native Filipino who works as a desktop publisher, Sabangan yearned to write her life history for her children, both born and bred in New York.
b. born and bred (also bred and born): by birth and upbringing. Chiefly with reference to a place, with the implication that the person exhibits traits characteristic of it. Chiefly as a postmodifier.
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1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. sig. b.viv Is it then possible..that..thear shoulde be ony..so mete for her as your princes own cuntreman, a right Briton both bred and borne?
1650 Brief Disc. betw. Yorkshirem. & Scottish-man 1 Yorks. I am a Yorkshireman born and bred, I care not who knowes it.
1752 W. Goodall Adventures Capt. Greenland IV. x. iii. 15 I am a Gentleman born and bred.
1882 W. M. Williams Sci. in Short Chapters 55 With all the conservative inconvincibility of a born and bred Englishman.
2005 L. Penny Still Life 254 He's a Golden Mile boy, born and bred.
c. Originally and chiefly North American. born and raised: by birth and upbringing. Chiefly with reference to a place, with the implication that the person exhibits traits characteristic of it. Chiefly as a postmodifier.
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1908 Amer. Marine Engineer June 25/2 My definition..would include the boy born of foreign parents who has been raised here..as well as the strictly born and raised American boy.
1985 Associated Press (Nexis) 28 Nov. I was a farmer born and raised and I just figured I'd farm my life and retire, like everybody used to.
2012 @avafagin 27 June in twitter.com (accessed 17 June 2019) As a born and raised midwestern suburb girl, there is nothing more terrifying than hailing a cab in New York.
P3. Theology.
a. to be born of God: to have experienced spiritual rebirth. Cf. Child of God at child n. 13.
ΚΠ
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) 1 John iv. 7 Ech man that loueth his brother, is born [a1425 L.V. borun; 1526 Tyndale borne] of God.
1789 Hieroglyphick Wonder of World iv. 25 A Christian is a Child of God, born of God, the begetter and Seed Sower is God.
2019 Daily Guide (Ghana) (Nexis) 23 Feb. People who are true Christians know it themselves. You cannot be born of God and be ignorant about it.
b. to be born again: to experience spiritual rebirth; to convert to Christianity. Cf. born-again adj. 1a.Now often associated with evangelical Christianity. [Quot. OE shows use of Old English eftboren (compare eft adv.) as an element-by-element gloss of use of classical Latin renātus renate adj. in the Vulgate, in the same context as in quot. c1384.]
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > soul > regeneration > regenerate [verb (intransitive)]
to be born againc1384
regenerate1606
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: John iii. 5 Nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et spiritu : buta hua eftboren sie of uætre & gaste.]
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) John iii. 3 But a man schal be born aȝen [a1425 L.V. borun aȝen; 1526 Tyndale boren a newe; 1611 King James borne againe], he may not se the kyngdom of God.
1607 H. Ainsworth Communion of Saincts x. 140 We must be turned and become as litle children; even born againe, or els we cannot see the kingdom of God.
1875 H. E. Manning Internal Mission of Holy Ghost ii. 35 We are born again, we are regenerate, we are sons of God.
2000 D. Nicholl in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 181/1 Dostoevsky had been born again into Christ through the Russian folk whose sufferings he shared in the prison camp, so that his sense of Christianity had fused the age-old faith of the peasantry with the insights of a modern psychologist.
P4. to be born under a —— star: to be of a certain temperament or inclined to a certain behaviour, as indicated by the qualifying adjective; spec. to be born under a lucky (also unlucky) star and variants: to be inherently fortunate or unfortunate.
ΚΠ
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 53 Alas my fader am I born vnder so vnhappy constellacion for to be a marteresse and prisonner.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) i. i. 186 You were borne vnder a charitable starre.
1750 Hist. Charlotte Summers II. iii. viii. 264 The Linnen-Draper told her..that she was certainly born under an unlucky Planet.
1837 M. M. Sherwood Henry Milner iii. ix. 176 One of us poor creatures who are born under a three-halfpenny planet.
1969 A. J. Lerner Wand'rin' Star (transcribed from song, perf. L. Marvin) in Paint your Wagon I was born under a wand'rin' star Wheels are made for rollin' Mules are made to pack I've never seen a sight that didn't look better looking back.
2018 @walshannon8 8 May in twitter.com (accessed 17 June 2019) Sometimes I think I was born under a lucky star.
P5. Proverb. one born to be hanged will never be drowned and variants: used to justify indifference to danger, or explain a lucky escape, on the grounds that one will survive all misfortunes other than the one which has been preordained.Cf. sense 4a. Often in contexts of surviving dangerous situations in water or at sea. Originally apparently expressing the logical proposition that if a person is so bad that he or she will inevitably die by hanging, he or she cannot suffer any other fate as a result of taking risks or behaving badly.
ΚΠ
?1505 tr. P. Gringore Castell of Laboure (new ed.) sig. B.i This is a worde sayde ouer all, He that is drowned may no man hange [Fr. Celuy quon doit noyer ne peuent pendre], And therfore thought I for to do The worste..[because] I shulde dye no more but onys.]
1593 J. Eliot Ortho-epia Gallica 127 He thats borne to be hangd shall neuer be drownde.
1784 S. Shaw Jrnl. 17 Mar. in J. Quincy Life & Jrnls. S. Shaw (1847) 135 He will..never go in an old ship when he can get a new one unless he knows he is born to be hanged.
1899 S. E. Moffett in McClure's Mag. Oct. 524/2 Before he was thirteen he [sc. Mark Twain] had been extracted three times from the Mississippi... But his mother..merely remarked: ‘People who are born to be hanged are safe in the water’.
1984 K. Robards Amanda Rose (2001) i. ‘Those born to be hanged will never drown’ was what they said of him when the ocean..threatened to crush the LucieBelle's hull.., only to set her down again safely in calmer waters.
2006 Moscow Times (Nexis) 19 Sept. The passengers, who were informed about the problem [sc. an engine malfunction] before takeoff, made no particular fuss either—apparently in line with the..proverb that people born to be hanged don't have to worry about drowning.
P6. not to be born for oneself (alone, only, etc.) and variants: to have a duty to be selfless; to act in the interests of other people or the collective good rather than in a self-serving way.
ΚΠ
?1518 A. Barclay in tr. D. Mancinus Myrrour Good Maners sig. C.vi We be nat borne onely for our pryuate profyte [L. Non sumus ad nostra ipsi tantum commoda nati] But eche man is bounde another for to socour.
1576 G. Gascoigne Steele Glas sig. D.iijv O Knights, O Squires, O Gentle blouds yborne, You were not borne, al onely for your selues: Your countrie claymes, some part of al your paines.
1754 D. Bellamy Family-preacher I. 51 We are not born for ourselves only, but the good of others, and have a duty likewise to perform to our neighbours as well as to God.
2015 New Indian Express (Nexis) 23 Nov. After all, we are not born for ourselves alone but to be useful to others.
P7. his father was born before him and variants: used to indicate that a man has inherited his wealth or privileged position, rather than earned it himself. Similarly her father was born before her: used with reference to a woman who inherits wealth or privilege in this way.
ΚΠ
1666 G. Torriano Piazza Universale ii. 167/2 The English something to that purpose say, of a rich man that never purchas'd his Estate, His Father was born before him.
1771 North Briton 2 Feb. 3 It was not only lucky..that his father was born before him, but that his father died soon after he was born, by which he succeeded at an early age to the great fortune, estates, and offices.
1888 London Reader 8 Sept. 464/1 She has the good fortune to have had a father born before her.
2016 @NYCEDUC 30 June in twitter.com (accessed 15 Aug. 2019) Eric, like Donald, is lucky his father was born before him. Otherwise, store manager of a Kmart.
P8. one's born days: one's lifetime. Chiefly in negative constructions, used to express surprise at something unexpected, remarkable, or unprecedented; often in (never) in all my born days.Cf. puff n. 1g.
ΚΠ
1694 N. H. Ladies Dict. 278/2 O pray good, dear Mother, let me go with you, I never saw a wise woman in all my born days.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxvii. 383 He never was so delighted in his born Days.
1827 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey IV. vi. i. 49 You shall rue it all your born days.
1955 M. Allingham Beckoning Lady vi. 91 I never met such a kack-handed jackass in all my born days.
2008 Internat. Herald Tribune (Nexis) 5 Nov. 8 [On polling day] her driveway was filled with cars left by voters who could not get into nearby parking lots. ‘I have never seen anything like this in all my born days,’ she said. ‘I am just astounded.’
P9. (there's) one (also a sucker) born every minute and variants: there are many naive or gullible people who are easy to cheat or deceive. With quot. 1835 cf. flat n.3 13.
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1835 Bell's Life in London 22 Feb. It is only surprising, after the repeated exposures of this species of robbery, that fresh flats are so frequently picked up; but, as these ingenious speculators say, ‘there is a flat born every minute’.
1870 Sporting Times 12 Feb. 54/2 It is said there is one born every minute—who can believe that a fortune is to be made for them by a man of whom they know nothing.
1934 Washington Post 25 Sept. 8/4 Politics is an old, tricky game... And since there is a sucker born every minute, it still fools some of the people all of the time.
2016 Weekly Standard 18 Apr. 34 There's one born every minute, as every con person knows.
P10. born tired and variants: used as an ironically implausible excuse for a person's chronic laziness or apathy.
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1864 Indianapolis Daily Jrnl. 21 July 2/3 The subscriber may be wrong, but it has occurred to him that the Union men of Indiana are either lazy or ‘born tired’.—Never does he remember to have seen..so much apathy during..any campaign.
1916 A. K. Yapp Told in Huts (2014) 158 Jim was not given to indulging in any excess of energy, and, to put it mildly, he was one of those fellows who was born a bit tired.
1947 Southern Folklore Q. 11 264 In northeast Mississippi it is customary to say of the afflicted person, ‘He was born tired and raised lazy.’
2012 Mail on Sunday (Nexis) 24 June ‘I was born tired,’ said Cassano to excuse a blatant trip on..Casillas in Italy's first game. It was easier to bring his old Real Madrid team-mate down than to have to run for the ball.
P11. were you born in a barn?: (a) used as an expression of mild remonstrance towards a person who has left a door open, exposing others to a draught; also in similar variant phrases, as were you born in a field?, were you born in a tent?, etc. (b) used to indicate that a person is behaving in a rude or uncouth manner.
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1895 J. Mackie Sinners Twain xi. 106 On coming in again, a gust of cold air..came in with him, and awoke Jamie... ‘Take you, Yorke; were you born in a barn?’ snapped the Amiable One.
1980 S. Mahon in F. Barr et al. Sisters 80 The fella in the bus shouts after them were they born in a field—so they had to come back an' shut the door after them.
1999 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) (Nexis) 31 Dec. 27 In our house, we were asked, ‘Were you born in a tent?’ whenever we left a door slightly ajar. For many years, I laboured under the illusion that I was.
2014 A. Quindlen Still Life with Bread Crumbs 58 ‘Were you born in a barn?’ her mother would say to him..about his table manners.
P12. Jamaican. from me (also him, her, etc.) born: from when I (or he, she, etc.) was born; in all my (or his, her, etc.) life.
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1897 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 30 June 4/6 The torch-light procession was a most imposing spectacle... One would..hear such ejaculations as ‘Missis from me bawn me neber see such a ting.’
1924 M. W. Beckwith Jamaica Anansi Stories 119 Nobody know dose two sister name, not from dem born. So he come bet dat him will fin' out dem two sister name.
2019 @rochelle_ejacob 20 Mar. in twitter.com (accessed 20 Aug. 2019) Star from mi born no gyal mi ever lose to.
P13. to be born ready: to have a natural ability or eagerness to do whatever is required, meet a challenge, etc. Frequently as an affirmative response in I was (also we were, etc.) born ready.
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1877 T. S. Perry tr. I. S. Turgenev Virgin Soil xxv. 193 ‘And you, Neshdanof, are you prepared?’.. ‘And Markelof?’..‘He, I suppose, was born ready.’
1991 Times 12 Oct. i. 36/1 If you were asked whether you were ready (ready for what was not always stipulated), you had to bark: ‘We were born ready.’
2006 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 19 Aug. 7 For all his motivational skills, Boothroyd's a modest man who doesn't seek publicity... Was he ready for the first game of the season at Everton? ‘I was born ready.’
P14. British colloquial not to know one is born: to fail to recognize or appreciate one's good fortune, or how easy one's life is.
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1919 ‘G. Woden’ Little Houses ii. ii. 93 It was very pleasant to be alive—there was always something to look forward to. Sometimes his father would say to him, ‘Ah, my lad, you don't know you're born.’
1927 Bookman Nov. 139/2 When Hermie marries the rich Ben, her..maid..regards the marriage as an extraordinary piece of good luck for her mistress... ‘You'd better watch it, miss!’ she exclaims. ‘Why, you don't know you're born!’
2013 S. Yates It's All about Bike xviii. 371 Kids today, eh? Don't know they're born, some of them.
P15. North American to be born on third (base): to be born with an advantage over other people; esp. to have inherited one's wealth or privileged position. Also in later use to be born on third base and think one has hit a triple and variants: to believe one's wealth or status is due to one's own merits or efforts, rather than merely inherited.With allusion to the game of baseball, in which players on the batting team must complete a circuit of four bases in order to score runs; a player at third base has already completed three-quarters of this circuit, and hence is only one base away from scoring.Cf. to be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth at spoon n. 3c.
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1934 Greeley (Colorado) Daily Tribune & Repulican 22 Jan. 8/2 A genius is one who seems a wonder because he was born on third base.
1935 Ironwood (Michigan) Daily Globe 17 Sept. 4/2 The professors and others so influential in framing national legislation are mostly men who were born on third base, and the burdens they are putting upon the people are borne by those of us who were born at bat with two strikes on us.
1988 N.Y. Times 20 July a21/2 Jim Hightower, the state's Commissioner of Agriculture, said the Vice President belonged to ‘an upper-class world in which wealth is yours at birth,’ and added, ‘He is a man who was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.’
2016 J. Kargman Sprinkle Glitter on my Grave 20 Some..people..have real talent and deserve their hard-earned success. Others, as Dad would say, ‘were born on third base’, aka ‘come from the Lucky Sperm Club’.
P16. Jamaican. to be born behind (also back) (a) cow and variants: to be naive, stupid, or unsophisticated.
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1969 ‘The Pioneers’ Mother Ritty (song) in Inyaso Pioneers (2016) II. 192 You must think mi born behind cow.
2012 @mooretalkja 14 May in twitter.com (accessed 16 Aug. 2019) I hate when people try to use flattery to get u to do some unpleasant job they're passing off on u. Me look like me born back a cow?
2015 @kvaa_ 20 Apr. in twitter.com (accessed 16 Aug. 2019) You mussy feel i born behind a cow ass, you good lied.
P17. to be born yesterday: see yesterday adv., n., and adj. Phrases; to be born in a mill: see mill n.1 Phrases 4; to be born to the purple: see purple n. 1d; to be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth: see spoon n. 3c; to the manor born: see manor n. 4; to the manner born: see manner n. 3b; to be born out of wedlock: see wedlock n. 2b; to be born on the wrong side of the blanket: see blanket n. and adj. Phrases 2; naked as the day one was born: see naked adj. and n.1 Phrases 4 to be born digital: see digital n. and adj. Phrases 2.
Compounds
born alive adj. designating a child who has a heartbeat or shows other signs of life upon delivery but dies or nearly dies shortly after.
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the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [adjective] > giving birth > complications of childbirth or pregnancy
abortivea1450
still-born1607
footling1699
premature1754
abortifacient1858
underborn1884
postmature1895
post-term1928
preterm1928
born alive1957
prem1961
1957 Quick Colombian Facts 138 In round figures, the number of born alive babies in 1955 was 511,000... The proportion between born alive male and female babies is 1,050 males to 1,000 females.
2019 US Official News (Nexis) 17 Jan. Congress must provide born-alive infants with lifesaving care.
born brother n. a man or boy sharing at least one birth parent with another person; a brother by birth.
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society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > sibling > brother > [noun]
brotherOE
born brotherOE
broa1530
billy1724
buddy1834
bredda1837
bub1841
boetie1867
bruvver1867
Brer1878
bro1893
boet1920
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) iv. lvii. 344 Þam þegnode on his untrumnesse his geborena broþer [L. frater germanus].
a1250 Wohunge ure Lauerd in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 275 Borne breðre hauen me forwurpen.
c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 14 (MED) What was Abel þe worse, þaȝ Kayme his borne broder Were cursid?
a1658 J. Durham Clavis Cantici (1668) viii. 423 A Virgin that is shewing her respect to her own born brother, needs fear no reproach from that.
1887 H. Morley Eng. Writers (ed. 2) II. ii. 25 Though his born brother..Bury him pompously.
2008 K. Kaser Patriarchy after Patriarchy i. 46 Friends become incorporated into the kinship group by calling them brothers... The ‘brother’ is differentiated from the ‘born brother’.
born-free n. (in Africa) a member of a generation born in a country after its transition to democracy, esp. in post-apartheid South Africa or post-independence Zimbabwe.
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1986 Moni July 5/1 (caption) Happy Born Frees at school.
2019 NewsDay (Zimbabwe) (Nexis) 26 Jan. Fences were built everywhere to protect the whites from the blacks and vice versa... Most of our ‘born frees’ have never heard of such things.
born idiot n. a person born with a mental disability (now offensive); (in later use also) a person who acts with extreme stupidity or foolishness.
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a1699 J. Fraser Lawfulness Separation from Corrupt Ministers (1744) iii. §vii. 142 It is no less observable, that the most strict, tender and godly (and no born Idiots either) both amongst Ministers and Professors, are against Hearing.
1772 J. Oswald Appeal to Common Sense II. v. 39 The difficulty of admitting certain obvious truths is almost as great as with born idiots.
1873 C. Gibbon For Lack of Gold (new ed.) xv. 116 ‘I'm a born idiot,’ he growled, as he sat down by the fire, ashamed of the weakness he had discovered in himself.
2003 Irish Times 30 July 8/5 A line of tombstones lay broken, as if they had been kicked over. ‘This is the work of idiots, born idiots.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2020; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
bornv.
/bɔːn/, U.S. /bɔrn/, Irish English /bɒːrn/, Caribbean English /boː(r)n/ Irish English in early use, chiefly North American in later use.
1. intransitive. Chiefly U.S. and Caribbean. To be born, come into existence. Also figurative. Chiefly in present participle. Cf. aborn v.In quot. 1698 in a representation of Irish speech.
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the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > be born [verb (intransitive)]
arisec950
to come forthOE
to come into (also to) the worldOE
riseOE
breedc1200
kenec1275
birtha1325
to wax forth1362
deliver?c1450
kindlec1450
seed?a1475
issuec1515
arrive1615
born1698
to see the light1752
1698 J. Dunton Rep. Serm. in A. Bliss Spoken Eng. in Ireland (1979) xviii. 135 You have but won way of borning into dis vorld.
1897 New-Eng. Hist. & Geneal. Reg. 51 339 Our Jacob's son John was borning at two o'clock in the morning, baptized by Domine Romine.
1932 W. Faulkner Light in August xv. 330 The talk. It went here and there about the town, dying and borning again like a wind or a fire.
1973 in R. Allsopp Dict. Caribbean. Eng. Usage (1996) (at cited word) The baby borns with a birth-mark at the place where the mother is touched.
1986 O. Senior in Summer Lightning & Other Stories 68 And Miss Mary I telling you the living truth, just as the baby borning the midwife no see a shadow fly out of the mother and go right cross the room.
1992 R. Moss Fire along Sky (2010) iii. 44 A new kind of society was borning and turning its back on the Old World.
2.
a. transitive. Chiefly U.S. regional and Caribbean. To give birth to (a child or offspring).In later use regional or nonstandard.In quot. 1703 in a representation of Irish speech.Quot. 1703 may alternatively show a variant past participle form of bear v.1
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > confine or deliver [verb (transitive)] > give birth
forthbring971
akenOE
haveOE
bearOE
to bring into the worldOE
teemOE
i-bereOE
to bring forthc1175
childc1175
reara1275
ofkenc1275
hatcha1350
makea1382
yielda1400
cleck1401
issue1447
engenderc1450
infant1483
deliver?a1518
whelp1581
world1596
yean1598
fall1600
to give (a person or thing) birth1615
to give birth to1633
drop1662
pup1699
born1703
to throw off1742
beteem1855
birth1855
parturiate1866
shell1890
to put to bed1973
bring-
1703 G. Farquhar Twin-rivals v. ii. 60 Poor Teague has been a Vanderer ever since he vas borned.
1837 C. M. Sedgwick Live & let Live vi. 63 She fretted herself to death for that it was, and not borning the baby that killed her.
1911 Dial. Notes 3 537 The mare borned a colt.
1996 D. Dabydeen Counting House (1997) 5 ‘You want God blight your belly so you don't born child?’ ‘Shut your mouth, you mad-rass man,’ her mother screamed, hugging the child protectively to her.
b. transitive. U.S. regional. figurative. Of an agent (such as God, nature, etc.): to produce or create (a person), esp. of a particular character.
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1870 Overland Monthly Apr. 316/1 Ever since God borned me, every thing has petered out. Fust, I was cleaned out by the drought in Texas.
1899 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Weekly Sentinel 12 July 12/4 That kid can't help it. Nature borned him for a great temperance lecturer.
1902 N.Y. Times 6 Dec. 858/4 A wee sister, whose lips are always turned up because ‘God borned me to be a smiler.’
2014 @jamiegraceh 23 Aug. in twitter.com (accessed 21 Aug. 2019) Spending three days in the state that borned me! (yes that's a word…) Thanks..San Diego.
3. transitive. U.S. figurative and in figurative contexts. To bring (something) into existence.Chiefly in past tense.
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1879 2nd Ann. Rep. Pennsylvania Board Agric. 446 There, gentlemen, is the birthplace of this association... There and then the child was born.., and these are the friends who ‘borned’ it.
1892 Christianity in Earnest May 84 Under the management of the man who ‘borned it’,..[the Church Extension Society] has gone on blessing and on its widening way.
1918 J. Seton Emanation Body vii. 37 He has found the kingdom of power in his own soul and ‘borned’ it into his material universe.
2016 @gotalottaass 16 Feb. in twitter.com (accessed 9 Oct. 2019) I'm not bringing sexy back. I borned it. 👌.
4. transitive. Chiefly North American. To deliver (a person's baby or an animal's young).
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the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > confine or deliver [verb (transitive)] > give birth > aid in childbirth
unbindc1325
midwife1638
obstetricate1662
deliver1676
accouche1858
granny1880
born1888
1888 St. Louis (Missouri) Globe-Democrat 9 July 10/5 I was the family physician. I was present at the birth of Nellie Grant-Sartoris. I ‘borned’ her, as I often say, and a sweeter girl never lived.
1932 W. Faulkner Light in August xvii. 371 Byron Bunch borning a baby.
1932 W. Faulkner Light in August xviii. 403 I took care of his woman for him and I borned his child for him.
1981 W. Foley Back to Forest in Forest Trilogy (1992) 387 I helped the farmer to born a calf. It was so wonderful, Mum, seeing that dear little calf, all legs and head.
2008 B. Rieti Making Witches ii. 100 He said that he borned more witches and goblins in the Barrenville area than ever was borned in the world.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2020; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.1931
adj.eOE
v.1698- sonoriferous
- sonoriferously
- sonorific
- sonorities
- sonority
- sonority hierarchy
- sonority scale
- sonoro
- sonoro-
- sonoro-mucous
- sonoro-sibilant
- sonoromucous
- sonorosibilant
- sonorosity
- sonorous
- sonorous rhonchus
- sonorously
- sonorousness
- sonorousnesses
- sonotube
- sonous
- sons
- sons bouchés
- sons of bitches
- sons of freedom