birth: [12] Old English had a word gebyrd ‘birth’ which survived until the end of the 13th century as birde, but it was quite distinct from (though related to) modern English birth, which was borrowed from Old Norse byrth. This came from the same Germanic stem (*ber-, *bur-) as produced bear, bairn, and indeed Old English gebyrd. The suffix -th denotes a process, or the result of a process: hence birth is ‘(the result of) the process of bearing a child’. Along with bath and death it is one of the most ancient words formed with -th. => bairn, bear, berth
birth (n.)
early 13c., from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse *byrer (replacing cognate Old English gebyrd "birth, descent, race; offspring; nature; fate"), from Proto-Germanic *gaburthis (cognates: Old Frisian berd, Old Saxon giburd, Dutch geboorte, Old High German giburt, German geburt, Gothic gabaurts), from PIE *bhrto past participle of root *bher- (1) "to carry; to bear children" (cognates: Sanskrit bhrtih "a bringing, maintenance," Latin fors, genitive fortis "chance;" see bear (v.)).
Suffix -th is for "process" (as in bath, death). Meaning "parentage, lineage, extraction" (revived from Old English) is from mid-13c. Birth control is from 1914; birth rate from 1859. Birth certificate is from 1842.
birth (v.)
mid-13c., from birth (n.). Related: Birthed; birthing.
雙語例句
1. I had obtained the authentic details about the birth of the organization.
我已經(jīng)掌握了有關(guān)該組織誕生的可靠的詳細(xì)資料。
來自柯林斯例句
2. The birth of a live healthy baby is a truly blessed event.
一個(gè)健康活潑的嬰兒的出生真是一件可喜的事情。
來自柯林斯例句
3. Condoms are an effective method of birth control if used with care.
如果使用得當(dāng)，避孕套是很有效的避孕手段。
來自柯林斯例句
4. Premature birth is the main cause of perinatal mortality.
早產(chǎn)是臨產(chǎn)死亡的主要原因。
來自柯林斯例句
5. Usually a woman's breasts produce milk spontaneously after the birth.