English
birth
Birth comes from Old Norse burðr ‘carriage, bearing’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-‘to bear’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰértis‘the act of carrying’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*burþiz‘bearing’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350burðr‘carriage’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500birthe
- Englishearliest quotation 1692birth
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-‘to bear’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰértis‘the act of carrying’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*burþiz‘bearing’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350burðr‘carriage’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500birthe
- Englishearliest quotation 1692birth
Earliest quotation: 1692, Ben Jonson, Epigrams: “That poets are far rarer births than kings.”
Formed from bear + -th
Proto-Germanic *berô
Proto-West Germanic *berō
Old English bera
Middle English bere ‘a bear’
English bear
The story
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’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
different, offer, difference, bar, reference, transfer, bear, prefer, broad, bread, relative, suffer, translation, extraordinary, relation, relate, burden, barrel, fortune, differ, barn, referendum, frustration, bore, translate, fury, baron, breeze, referee, bark, borne, fertility, broom, phosphate, extravagant, barrow, fertile, embargo, fret, phosphorus, 159 more
Another origin of birth
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*burþį̄‘burden’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*burþī‘burden’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*burþini‘burden’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150byrþen‘burden’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500birtheneas birthen‘a child carried in the womb’
- Englishtodaybirth
Today it means
noun 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.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- / birth