Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BIRTH, n. [berth; Sax. byrd, beorth; D. geboorte; Ger. geburt; Ir. beirthe, from bear; perhaps L. partus, from pario.]

1. The act of coming into life, or of being born. Except in poetry, it is generally applied to human beings; as, the birth of a son.
2. Lineage; extraction; descent; as, Grecian birth. – Denham. It is used of high or low extraction; but is often used by way of distinction for a descent from noble or honorable parents and ancestors; as, a man of birth.
3. The condition in which a person is born. A foe by birth to Troy. – Dryden.
4. That which is born; that which is produced, whether animal or vegetable. – Milton. Addison.
5. The act of bringing forth; as, she had two children at a birth.
6. In a theological sense, regeneration is called the new birth.
7. Origin; beginning; as, the birth of an empire.