birth

/bɜːθ/

//bɜːθ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"birth" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“birth” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,745 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,745
frequency rank, English
5
letters
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The process of childbearing; the beginning of life; the emergence of a human baby or other viviparous animal offspring from the mother's body into the environment.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

birth vs bit
60% similar
birth vs both
60% similar
birth vs bite
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for birth
PropertyValue
Headwordbirth
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bɜːθ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#1,745
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “birth” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). birth lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for birth is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɜːθ/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,745 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for birth, with forms such as "bbirth", "birht", and "birrth". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bit", "both", "bite", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *bʰértisder. Proto-Germanic *burþiz Old Norse burðrbor. Middle English birthe English birth From Middle English birthe (1250), from earlier burthe, burde, from Old Norse… The correct English form is birth, spelled B-I-R-T-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    The process of childbearing; the beginning of life; the emergence of a human baby or other viviparous animal offspring from the mother's body into the environment.
  2. 2
    An instance of childbirth.
  3. 3
    A beginning or start; a point of origin.
  4. 4
    The circumstances of one's background, ancestry, or upbringing.
  5. 5
    That which is born.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *bʰértisder. Proto-Germanic *burþiz Old Norse burðrbor. Middle English birthe English birth From Middle English birthe (1250), from earlier burthe, burde, from Old Norse burðr, byrd (Old Swedish byrth, Swedish börd), replacing Old English ġebyrd (rare variant byrþ), equivalent to bear + -th (thus a piecewise doublet of berth). The Old Norse is from Proto-Germanic *burdiz (compare Old Frisian berde, berd); Old English ġebyrd is from prefixed *gaburþiz (compare Dutch geboorte, German Geburt), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰŕ̥tis (compare Latin fors (“luck”), Old Irish brith), from *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”). More at bear.

Antonyms

death

This word in other languages

nacimiento(Español)naissance(Français)Geburt(Deutsch)parto(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bbirth,birht,birrth,birthh,birtth,bitrh,brith,ibrth

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of birth - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

bbirth1birht2birrth1birthh1birtth1bitrh2brith2ibrth2
Edit distance from "birth"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "birth"?
"birth" is spelled B-I-R-T-H. The IPA pronunciation is /bɜːθ/.
What does "birth" mean?
As a noun, "birth" means: The process of childbearing; the beginning of life; the emergence of a human baby or other viviparous animal offspring from the mother's body into the environment.
What words are commonly confused with "birth"?
"birth" is commonly confused with "bit", "both", "bite". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "birth"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "birth" is /bɜːθ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "birth"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *bʰértisder. Proto-Germanic *burþiz Old Norse burðrbor. Middle English birthe English birth From Middle English birthe (1250), from earlier burthe, burde, from... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “birth”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-I-R-T-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /bɜːθ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “bit” - see the side-by-side comparison. birth vs bit
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list