birthday

IPA/ˈbɜːθdeɪ/
KK[bˈɚθdˌe]IPA/ˈbɜːrθdeɪ/

birthday — noun

  • birthdaysingular
  • birthdaysplural

1. the yearly date marking someone's birth, often celebrated with cards, gifts, or

1.nounA1
Definition

the yearly date marking someone's birth, often celebrated with cards, gifts, or a party

Example

Mina baked a chocolate cake for her brother's birthday on Friday.

collocation: birthday cake

On his tenth birthday, Leo rode the bus to the zoo.

pattern: on someone's [Nth] birthday

Common collocations
  • birthday cake
  • birthday card
  • birthday party
  • birthday present
  • happy birthday
Synonyms
  • birth date

    the exact calendar date in records or forms, not the celebration

  • anniversary

    a broader word for a yearly date, not only a person's birth

  • nameday

    a day linked to a person's name in some cultures, not to birth

Grammar Patterns

[someone's] birthday

on [someone's] birthday

[Nth] birthday

Usage Note

Usually used with a possessive or number: my birthday, Ella's birthday, his fifth birthday. Use on for the date itself and at for the celebration, as in on my birthday but at my birthday party.

Common Mistakes

We will meet in Fadi's birthday.
We will meet on Fadi's birthday.
English uses on with a day or date.
Today is my born day.
Today is my birthday.
English says birthday, not born day.
Idioms

in your birthday suit

idiom

Wearing no clothes at all.

After the shower, Maya ran to her room in her birthday suit.

Did you really walk around the house in your birthday suit?

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Birthday is the normal everyday word for the yearly date when a person was born, and it can also suggest the party, cake, or gifts connected with that day. Birth date is narrower: it means the exact calendar date in records, forms, or official questions, without the idea of celebration. Anniversary is broader and can mark many kinds of yearly dates, such as a wedding or the opening of a school, so it is not limited to people. Nameday is used in some cultures for a day linked to a person's name rather than to birth. We ask for your birth date on a form, say Happy birthday to a friend, and talk about a wedding anniversary for a marriage.

birthday ↗birth dateanniversary ↗nameday ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • birthday cake
  • birthday card
  • birthday party
  • birthday present

Phrases

Prepositions

  • on someone's birthday
  • for someone's birthday

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Birthday is a compound made in English from birth and day. It literally means the day of birth, but in ordinary use it came to mean the same date each year and, by extension, the celebration held on that date.