# birth

> English word · Noun · IPA /bɜːθ/ · frequency rank #1,745

## Definitions
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. An instance of childbirth.
3. A beginning or start; a point of origin.
4. The circumstances of one's background, ancestry, or upbringing.
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.

## Easily confused with
- **bit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/birth-vs-bit)
- **both** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/birth-vs-both)
- **bite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/birth-vs-bite)
- **bits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/birth-vs-bits)
- **bruh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/birth-vs-bruh)
- **Burt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/birth-vs-burt)
- **brah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/birth-vs-brah)
- **bitch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/birth-vs-bitch)
- **booth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/birth-vs-booth)
- **broth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/birth-vs-broth)
- **Burch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/birth-vs-burch)
- **burgh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/birth-vs-burgh)
- **bitty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/birth-vs-bitty)
- **Blyth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/birth-vs-blyth)
- **Bir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bir-vs-birth)
- **bird** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bird-vs-birth)
- **bath** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bath-vs-birth)
- **beth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beth-vs-birth)
- **Bart** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bart-vs-birth)
- **Bert** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bert-vs-birth)

## Common misspellings (8)
`bbirth`, `birht`, `birrth`, `birthh`, `birtth`, `bitrh`, `brith`, `ibrth`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/birth