Etymology

birthday

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Today it means: The anniversary of the day on which someone is born. Full definition →

First used 1570sMiddle English birthdai ← Old English ġebyrddæġ ← Proto-West Germanic *gaburdidag
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic*gaburdidag
  2. Old Englishġebyrddæġ
  3. Middle Englishbirthdai
  4. English todaybirthday

From Middle English birthdai, birtheday, from Old English ġebyrddæġ (“birthday”), influenced by Old Norse burðr, equivalent to birth + day. Compare Saterland Frisian Gebuursdai (“birthday”), Dutch geboortedag (“birthday”), Low German Geboortsdag (“birthday”), German Geburtstag (“birthday”), Norwegian bursdag, gebursdag (“birthday”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English nativitee (“birth, nativity, birthday”), from Old French nativité, nativited, from Latin nātīvitas.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 1570s The anniversary of the day on which someone is born.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.