inbirth

I1N1B3I1R1T1H4

noun

An inner or inward birth

Scrabble 12

Meanings

nouninbirth (plural inbirths)

plural inbirths

  1. rareAn inner or inward birth

    Two kinds of birth take place in the soul — one is called an inbirth, the other an outbirth.

    1886, Johannes Tauler, The Following of Christ
    4 more examples

    My dear invisible Church (truly invisible, even to its pastor, as I never set eyes on one of you)-my dear Church, I'll let you into a secret—I am no mystic; I never in my life was in a “high sphere," and never experienced an “inbirth."

    1835, The Shepherd, numbers 1-33

    Until the dark fiery soul consents to die, to the light and glory of this temporal nature, the light and glory of eternal nature cannot arise in it as an essential inbirth, and qualify it with these eternal qualities, which it is vainly seeking for amidst temporal effigies.

    1847, James Pierrepont Greaves, The New Nature in the Soul

    The Church is concerned with the human soul, and its teaching bears upon the creature's bliss or suffering during life on earth and in the state after death. Totally different is the doctrine of eternal Truth — the Inbirth of the Light into the Soul.

    1940, A. H. Gebhard-L'Estrange, The Tradition of Silence in Myth and Legend

    Man the creator is the inbirth of God the creator; he is immersed in the universal spirit of creation.

    1952, Ida C. Knapp, Myself the challenger

Origin

From in- + birth. Compare Old English inberþ, inbyrd (“born within one's estate; native-born”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

inbirth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inbirth

MLA

“inbirth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inbirth. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “inbirth,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inbirth.

Source: inbirth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.