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firstborn

UK/ˈfɜː(ɹ)stˌbɔː(ɹ)n/US/ˈfɜː(ɹ)stˌbɔː(ɹ)n/
nounB2Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #9,156 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: firstborns

The firstborn is the eldest child of a family. Their firstborn, the firstborn son, firstborn rights.

The word carries weight because of inheritance: primogeniture, the rule that the eldest inherits everything, shaped European property and titles for a thousand years and still governs some of them. In the Bible the firstborn has a distinct status. In ordinary modern use, firstborn is simply the eldest, and birth-order research on whether it matters is far less conclusive than the popular version suggests.

George van Horn Millet · Public domain

Definitions of firstborn

  1. 1nounfirstbornThe eldest child of a family.B2

    “Their firstborn was a boy, followed two years later by twin girls.”

firstborn is an eldest child.

Where it comes from

The word is first plus born, a plain English compound used to translate a Hebrew and Greek term in the Bible. Its whole weight in English comes from that translation rather than from the language itself.

  1. Middle English

    first borne

  2. English, today

    firstborn

From Middle English first borne. by surface analysis, en + first + born.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Family & People, Babies & Growing Up

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firstborn in the wild

  • The pidyon haben, or redemption of the first-born son, is a mitzvah in Judaism whereby a Jewish firstborn son is "redeemed" with money.

    Pidyon haben

  • "Redemption" is achieved by paying five silver coins to a Kohen, a descendant of the priestly family of Aaron, on behalf of the firstborn son.

    Pidyon haben

  • Unlike all other Jewish fast days, only firstborn children must fast on this day.

    Fast of the Firstborn

  • The firstborn is the eldest child born in a family.

    Firstborn (disambiguation)

  • In genealogy, a cadet is a younger son, as opposed to the firstborn heir.

    Cadet (genealogy)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.