Meanings
born1
- obsoleteparticiplepastpast participle of bear in other senses.
In some monasteries the severity of the clausure is hard to be born.
1784, Thomas Sheridan, Life of Dr. Swift, Section I1 more example
If I had not persuaded Harriet into liking the man, I could have born any thing.
1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter XVI, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 286
- not comparableHaving from birth (or as if from birth) a certain quality or character; innate; inherited.
a born leader
4 more examples
In the United States, information describing the operation of nuclear weapons is born secret.
I'll make it out, deny it he that can, / His Worship is a True-born Engliſhman, / In all the Latitude that Empty Word / By Modern Acceptation's understood.
1701 January (indicated as 1700), [Daniel Defoe], “Part II”, in The True-Born Englishman. A Satyr, [London: s.n.], →OCLC, page 61I ought really to have called him my sergeant. He's a born sergeant. That's as much as to say he's a born scoundrel.
1942, Storm Jameson, Then we shall hear singing: a fantasy in C major“Your desert boots are fitted slip-fashion at the ankles. Who told you to do that?” "It . . . seemed the right way." "That it most certainly is." And Kynes rubbed his cheek, thinking of the legend: "He shall know your ways as though born to them."
1965 October 1, Frank Herbert, “Book I: Dune”, in Dune, Philadelphia, Pa.: Chilton Book Company; [Toronto], Ont.: Thomas Nelson & Sons, →OCLC, page 108
born2
present singular third person borns · participle present bornin · participle past bornt · past bornt
Born3
- A surname from English.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivebeing talented through inherited qualities
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
born · verb, adjective
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰer-
- Proto-Germanic*buranaz
- Proto-West Germanic*boran
- Old Englishboren, ġeboren
- Middle Englishborn, boren, borne, iborne
- Englishborn
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”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مَوْلُود
- مَوْلُود (mawlūd)given birth to
Bulgarian роде́н
- роде́н (rodén)given birth to
Catalan nascut, nat
- nascutgiven birth to
- natgiven birth to
Chinese Mandarin 出生
- 出生 (chūshēng)given birth to
Czech rozený
- rozenýgiven birth to
Danish født
- fødtgiven birth to
Dutch geboren
- geborengiven birth to
Finnish syntynyt
- syntynytgiven birth to
French né
- négiven birth to
German geboren
- geborengiven birth to
Greek γεννημένος
- γεννημένος (genniménos)given birth to
Hindi जाया
- जाया (jāyā)given birth to
Hungarian született, -szülött
- születettgiven birth to
- -szülöttgiven birth to
Icelandic fæddur
- fæddurgiven birth to
Indonesian lahir
- lahirgiven birth to
Italian nato
- natogiven birth to
Japanese 生まれた
- 生まれた (umareta)given birth to
Korean 태어난, 난
- 태어난 (taeeonan)given birth to
- 난 (nan)given birth to
Norwegian Bokmål født
- fødtgiven birth to
Persian متولد
- متولد (motavalled)given birth to
Polish urodzony, narodzony
- urodzonygiven birth to
- narodzonygiven birth to
Portuguese nascido, nato
- nascidogiven birth to
- natogiven birth to
- nadogiven birth to
Romanian născut
- născutgiven birth to
Russian рождённый, урождённый
- рождённый (roždjónnyj)given birth to
- урождённый (uroždjónnyj)given birth to
- роди́вшийся (rodívšijsja)given birth to
Slovak rodený
- rodenýgiven birth to
Spanish nacido, nato
- nacidogiven birth to
- natogiven birth to
Swedish född
- föddgiven birth to
Tamil பிறவி
- பிறவி (piṟavi)given birth to
Ukrainian наро́джений, уро́джений
- наро́джений (naródženyj)given birth to
- уро́джений (uródženyj)given birth to
- поро́джений (poródženyj)given birth to
- приро́джений (pryródženyj)given birth to
Urdu پیدا, پیدا شدہ
- پیدا (paidā)given birth to
- پیدا شدہ (paidā shudah)given birth to
Yiddish געבוירן
- געבוירן (geboyrn)given birth to
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with born
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
born. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/born
“born.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/born. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “born,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/born.
Source: born on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.