nativity
/nəˈtɪv.ɪ.ti/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.18 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
4
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Someone's birth considered as a means of astrology; a horoscope associated with a person's birth.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The festival celebrating the birth of Jesus, Christmas Day; the festival celebrating the birth of the Virgin Mary or the birth of Saint John the Baptist.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "1483, William Caxton, Prologue to The Golden Legend, The Holbein Society’s Fac-simile Reprints, London: The Holbein Society, 1878, […] me semeth to be a souerayn wele to Incyte & exhorte men & wymmen to kepe them from slouthe & ydlenesse & to lete to be vnderstonden to suche peple as been not lettered the natyuytees, lyues, the passyons, the myracles and the dethe of the holy saynts […]"
- "I have served him from the hour of my nativity to this instant, and have nothing at his hands for my service but blows."
- "And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all."
- "The way to be happy is to live according to nature, in obedience to that universal and unalterable law with which every heart is originally impressed; which is not written on it by precept, but engraven by destiny; not instilled by education, but infused at our nativity."
- "Now when the greetings were done and the strains of the lutes and recorders sighed and lost themselves in the shadowy vault of the roof, the cup-bearers did fill great gems made in form of cups with ancient wine, and the Demons caroused to Lord Juss deep draughts in honour of this day of his nativity."
- "You ſtarres that raignd at my natiuitie, / whoſe influence hath alotted death and hel, / Now draw vp Fauſtus like a foggy miſt, / Into the intrailes of yon labring cloude, / That when you vomite foorth into the ayre, / My limbes may iſſue from your ſmoaky mouthes, / So that my ſoule may but aſcend to heauen: […]"
Etymology
From Middle English nativite, from Anglo-Norman nativite, Middle French nativite, and their source, Latin nātīvitās (“birth”). By surface analysis, native + -ity. See also naïveté.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *ǵenh₁-, nativite, nativitas
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /nəˈtɪv.ɪ.ti/
- British English: /nəˈtɪv.ɪ.ti/
Usage
Inflected Forms
nativities (plural)
the Nativity (canonical)