# born

> English word · Verb · IPA /bɔːn/ · frequency rank #843

## Definitions
1. past participle of bear; given birth to.
2. past participle of bear in other senses.

## Etymology
From Middle English born, boren, borne, iborne, from Old English boren, ġeboren, from Proto-West Germanic *boran, *gaboran, from Proto-Germanic *buranaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *beraną (“to bear, carry”), equivalent to bear + -en. Cognate with Saterland Frisian gebooren (“born”), West Frisian berne (“born”), Dutch geboren (“born”), German geboren (“born”), Swedish boren (“born”).

## Easily confused with
- **br** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-br)
- **boy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-boy)
- **box** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-box)
- **bro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-bro)
- **bow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-bow)
- **bra** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-bra)
- **bot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-bot)
- **bun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-bun)
- **BRB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-brb)
- **Bri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-bri)
- **bur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-bur)
- **bru** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-bru)
- **both** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-both)
- **boys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-boys)
- **boss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-boss)
- **bowl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-bowl)
- **burn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-burn)
- **bout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-bout)
- **bury** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-bury)
- **Boyd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/born-vs-boyd)

## Common misspellings (6)
`bborn`, `bonr`, `bornn`, `borrn`, `bron`, `obrn`

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