2. Lineage; extraction; descent; sometimes, high birth; noble extraction.

Elected without reference to birth, but solely for qualifications.

Prescott.

3. The condition to which a person is born; natural state or position; inherited disposition or tendency.

A foe by birth to Troy's unhappy name.

Dryden.

4. The act of bringing forth; as, she had two children at a birth. "At her next birth." Milton.

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