born

IPA/bɔːn/
KK[bˈɔrn]IPA/bɔːrn/

born — verb

  • bornpresent simple I / you / we / they
  • borns3rd person singular
  • borning-ing form
  • bornedpast simple

1. to start life when a baby leaves its mother's body.

1.verbA2
Definition

to start life when a baby leaves its mother's body.

Example

Mira was born in Tainan during a typhoon on Sunday night.

be born + place and time phrase

Christopher was born two months early but soon grew stronger.

Common collocations
  • born in Taipei
  • born on Monday
  • born at home
  • born by caesarean section

Grammar Patterns

be born + time/place phrase

be born + by caesarean section

Usage Note

This sense nearly always appears in the pattern be born. Use give birth when the mother is the subject.

Common Mistakes

My mother born me in August.
My mother gave birth to me in August.
the mother gives birth; the baby is born.
I am born in Tainan.
I was born in Tainan.
use be born for a past birth event.

2. used after be to show the place, family, condition, or social position a person

2.verbB1
Definition

used after be to show the place, family, condition, or social position a person had at the start of life.

Example

Obi was born blind, so he learned Braille in primary school.

be born + adjective

Reema was born into a farming family outside Madurai.

be born into + family

Common collocations
  • born blind
  • born rich
  • born into poverty
  • born with a heart condition

Grammar Patterns

be born + adjective

be born into + family/class

be born with + condition

Usage Note

This sense describes what was already true when life began. It does not describe qualities or circumstances somebody gained later.

Common Mistakes

Rania was born as blind.
Rania was born blind.
after born, use the adjective directly.
He was born in a rich family.
He was born into a rich family.
use into for the social group or family someone enters at birth.

3. if something such as a plan or feeling is born, it begins to take shape or appea

3.verbC1
Definition

if something such as a plan or feeling is born, it begins to take shape or appear.

Example

The idea for the app was born during a late-night train ride.

figurative: idea was born

A close friendship was born after the two nurses shared night shifts.

Common collocations
  • an idea was born
  • a movement was born
  • friendship was born
  • hope was born
Synonyms
  • emerge

    often suggests something appearing gradually rather than in one moment

  • arise

    more formal and often used for situations or problems

Grammar Patterns

idea/movement/friendship is born

Usage Note

This figurative sense is often used for ideas, relationships, movements, or feelings. It usually appears in formal or thoughtful writing.

4. used to say a feeling, action, or quality came from a particular cause.

4.verbC1
Definition

used to say a feeling, action, or quality came from a particular cause.

Example

Her calm answer came from patience born of long experience.

born of + cause

Their anger was born of years of broken promises.

Common collocations
  • born of necessity
  • born of fear
  • born of grief
  • born of experience
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

born of + abstract noun

Usage Note

This pattern is most common with abstract causes such as fear, grief, necessity, or experience. It is more literary than everyday spoken English.

Common Mistakes

Her courage was born from long practice.
Her courage was born of long practice.
born of is the usual fixed pattern in this formal sense.
Idioms

be/be born/be made that way

idiom

to act in a certain way because it is simply part of your nature.

Luca laughs loudly in every room; he was born that way.

be born to be/do something

idiom

used to say someone seems naturally meant for a role or activity.

Everyone could see Gabriela was born to be a surgeon.

Obi seems born to lead calm teams in emergencies.

born and bred

idiom

born and brought up in a place or culture.

Maeve was born and bred in Cork, so she misses the sea.

Those farmers are born and bred on the island.

in all my born days

idiom

used to emphasize that you have never experienced something so surprising.

In all my born days, I had never seen snow in May.

not be born yesterday

idiom

to say you are too experienced to be easily fooled.

Try that excuse on someone else; I wasn't born yesterday.

not know you are born

idiom

to have a comfortable life without noticing how fortunate it is.

With grandparents doing everything, those boys don't know they're born.

there’s one born every minute

idiom

used to say some people are foolish enough to be tricked.

Even that fake investment site finds customers; there's one born every minute.

(as/as if) to the manner born

idiom

in a way that looks completely natural and well practised.

After one rehearsal, Gabriela handled the microphone as if to the manner born.

born — adjective

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/2

Born in this sense points to what was true at the very beginning of life: the place, family, condition, or social position someone had from birth. Raised shifts the focus to how parents or other adults looked after the person later. Grow up describes the period of childhood, not the starting point itself. Native is a more formal adjective for the place or language that originally belongs to someone, but it does not work for meanings like born blind or born rich. Come from is broader and can describe family background or place, yet it says less clearly that the condition was already there on day one. Compare: born in Tainan, raised in Kaohsiung, and grew up in Canada.

raised ↗grow up ↗native ↗come from ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • be born in
  • be born with
  • be born into
  • born of necessity

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Born comes from the old past participle of bear in its historical sense of carrying and giving birth. In Old English, forms of beran were used both for carrying something and for producing a child. Over time, the birth meaning stayed mainly in the fixed pattern be born, while the other senses of bear continued as the main verb bear.

First known use

12th century

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a