Adjacent Words

Born definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BORN, pp. of bear. baurn. Brought forth, as an animal. A very useful distinction is observed by good authors, who, in the sense of produced or brought forth, write this word born; but in the sense of carried, write it borne. This difference of orthography renders obvious the difference of pronunciation.
1. To be born, is to be produced or brought into life. "Man is born to trouble." A man born a prince or a beggar. It is followed by of, before the mother or ancestors.
Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. Job 14.
2. To be born, or born again, is to be regenerated and renewed; to receive spiritual life. John 3.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: brought into existence; "he was a child born of adultery" [ant: unborn]
2: being talented through inherited qualities; "a natural leader"; "a born musician"; "an innate talent" [syn: natural, born, innate] n
1: British nuclear physicist (born in Germany) honored for his contributions to quantum mechanics (1882-1970) [syn: Born, Max Born]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Old English boren, past participle of beran to carry — more at bear Date: before 12th century 1. a. brought forth by or as if by birth b. native — usually used in combination <American-born> c. deriving or resulting from — usually used in combination <poverty-born crime> 2. a. having from birth specified qualities <a born leader> b. being in specified circumstances from birth <nobly born> <born to wealth> 3. destined from or as if from birth <born to succeed>

Merriam Webster's

biographical name Max 1882-1970 German physicist

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 existing as a result of birth. 2 a being such or likely to become such by natural ability or quality (a born leader). b (usu. foll. by to + infin.) having a specified destiny or prospect (born lucky; born to be king; born to lead men). 3 (in comb.) of a certain status by birth (French-born; well-born). Phrases and idioms: born-again (attrib.) converted (esp. to fundamentalist Christianity). born and bred by birth and upbringing. in all one's born days colloq. in one's life so far. not born yesterday colloq. not stupid; shrewd. Etymology: past part. of BEAR(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bear Bear (b[^a]r), v. t. [imp. Bore (b[=o]r) (formerly Bare (b[^a]r)); p. p. Born (b[^o]rn), Borne (b[=o]r); p. pr. & vb. n. Bearing.] [OE. beren, AS. beran, beoran, to bear, carry, produce; akin to D. baren to bring forth, G. geb["a]ren, Goth. ba['i]ran to bear or carry, Icel. bera, Sw. b["a]ra, Dan. b[ae]re, OHG. beran, peran, L. ferre to bear, carry, produce, Gr. fe`rein, OSlav brati to take, carry, OIr. berim I bear, Skr. bh[.r] to bear. [root]92. Cf. Fertile.] 1. To support or sustain; to hold up. 2. To support and remove or carry; to convey. I 'll bear your logs the while. --Shak. 3. To conduct; to bring; -- said of persons. [Obs.] Bear them to my house. --Shak. 4. To possess and use, as power; to exercise. Every man should bear rule in his own house. --Esther i. 22. 5. To sustain; to have on (written or inscribed, or as a mark), as, the tablet bears this inscription. 6. To possess or carry, as a mark of authority or distinction; to wear; as, to bear a sword, badge, or name. 7. To possess mentally; to carry or hold in the mind; to entertain; to harbor --Dryden. The ancient grudge I bear him. --Shak. 8. To endure; to tolerate; to undergo; to suffer. Should such a man, too fond to rule alone, Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne. --Pope. I cannot bear The murmur of this lake to hear. --Shelley. My punishment is greater than I can bear. --Gen. iv. 13. 9. To gain or win. [Obs.] Some think to bear it by speaking a great word. --Bacon. She was . . . found not guilty, through bearing of friends and bribing of the judge. --Latimer. 10. To sustain, or be answerable for, as blame, expense, responsibility, etc. He shall bear their iniquities. --Is. liii. 11. Somewhat that will bear your charges. --Dryden. 11. To render or give; to bring forward. ``Your testimony bear'' --Dryden. 12. To carry on, or maintain; to have. ``The credit of bearing a part in the conversation.'' --Locke. 13. To admit or be capable of; that is, to suffer or sustain without violence, injury, or change. In all criminal cases the most favorable interpretation should be put on words that they can possibly bear. --Swift. 14. To manage, wield, or direct. ``Thus must thou thy body bear.'' --Shak. Hence: To behave; to conduct. Hath he borne himself penitently in prison ? --Shak. 15. To afford; to be to; to supply with. His faithful dog shall bear him company. --Pope. 16. To bring forth or produce; to yield; as, to bear apples; to bear children; to bear interest. Here dwelt the man divine whom Samos bore. --Dryden. Note: In the passive form of this verb, the best modern usage restricts the past participle born to the sense of brought forth, while borne is used in the other senses of the word. In the active form, borne alone is used as the past participle. To bear down. (a) To force into a lower place; to carry down; to depress or sink. ``His nose, . . . large as were the others, bore them down into insignificance.'' --Marryat. (b) To overthrow or crush by force; as, to bear down an enemy. To bear a hand. (a) To help; to give assistance. (b) (Naut.) To make haste; to be quick. To bear in hand, to keep (one) up in expectation, usually by promises never to be realized; to amuse by false pretenses; to delude. [Obs.] ``How you were borne in hand, how crossed.'' --Shak. To bear in mind, to remember. To bear off. (a) To restrain; to keep from approach. (b) (Naut.) To remove to a distance; to keep clear from rubbing against anything; as, to bear off a blow; to bear off a boat. (c) To gain; to carry off, as a prize. To bear one hard, to owe one a grudge. [Obs.] ``C[ae]sar doth bear me hard.'' --Shak. To bear out. (a) To maintain and support to the end; to defend to the last. ``Company only can bear a man out in an ill thing.'' --South. (b) To corroborate; to confirm. To bear up, to support; to keep from falling or sinking. ``Religious hope bears up the mind under sufferings.'' --Addison. Syn: To uphold; sustain; maintain; support; undergo; suffer; endure; tolerate; carry; convey; transport; waft.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Born Born (b[^o]rn), p. p. & a. [See Bear, v. t.] 1. Brought forth, as an animal; brought into life; introduced by birth. No one could be born into slavery in Mexico. --Prescott. 2. Having from birth a certain character; by or from birth; by nature; innate; as, a born liar. ``A born matchmaker.'' --W. D. Howells.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. When a baby is born, it comes out of its mother's body at the beginning of its life. In formal English, if you say that someone is born of someone or to someone, you mean that person is their parent. My mother was 40 when I was born... He was born of German parents and lived most of his life abroad... Willie Smith was the second son born to Jean and Stephen. V-PASSIVE: be V-ed, be V-ed of/to n, V-ed of/to n 2. If someone is born with a particular disease, problem, or characteristic, they have it from the time they are born. He was born with only one lung... Some people are born brainy... I think he was born to be editor of a tabloid newspaper... We are all born leaders; we just need the right circumstances in which to flourish. V-PASSIVE: no cont, be V-ed with n, be V-ed adj, be V-ed to-inf, be V-ed n 3. You can use be born in front of a particular name to show that a person was given this name at birth, although they may be better known by another name. (FORMAL) She was born Jenny Harvey on June 11, 1946. V-PASSIVE: no cont, be V-ed n 4. You use born to describe someone who has a natural ability to do a particular activity or job. For example, if you are a born cook, you have a natural ability to cook well. Jack was a born teacher. ADJ: ADJ n 5. When an idea or organization is born, it comes into existence. If something is born of a particular emotion or activity, it exists as a result of that emotion or activity. (FORMAL) Congress passed the National Security Act, and the CIA was born... Energy conservation as a philosophy was born out of the 1973 oil crisis. V-PASSIVE: be V-ed, be V-ed out of/of n 6. see also -born, first born, newborn 7. to be born and bred: see breed to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth: see spoon

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

See BORN.

Moby Thesaurus

absolute, all-embracing, all-encompassing, all-out, all-pervading, atavistic, bearing, birth, bodily, bring forth, broad-based, calved, cast, clean, clear, coeval, comprehensive, congenital, connatal, connate, connatural, constitutional, consummate, deep-dyed, deep-seated, deliver, downright, dropped, dyed-in-the-wool, egregious, essential, exhaustive, foaled, genetic, given birth, giving birth, hatched, hereditary, in the blood, inborn, inbred, incarnate, indigenous, inherited, innate, instinctive, instinctual, intensive, intrinsic, native, native to, natural, natural to, nee, newborn, omnibus, omnipresent, organic, out-and-out, outright, perfect, pervasive, physical, plain, plumb, primal, pure, radical, regular, sheer, stillborn, straight, sweeping, temperamental, thorough, thoroughgoing, through-and-through, total, ubiquitous, unconditional, universal, unmitigated, unqualified, unreserved, unrestricted, utter, veritable, whelped, wholesale