From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Nativity \Na*tiv"i*ty\, n.; pl. {Nativies}. [F. nativit['e], L.
nativitas. See {Native}, and cf. {Na["i]vet['e]}.]
1. The coming into life or into the world; birth; also, the
circumstances attending birth, as time, place, manner,
etc. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
I have served him from the hour of my nativity.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Thou hast left . . . the land of thy nativity.
--Ruth ii. 11.
[1913 Webster]
These in their dark nativity the deep
Shall yield us, pregnant with infernal flame.
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Fine Arts) (capitalized) A picture representing or
symbolizing the early infancy of Christ. The simplest form
is the babe in a rude cradle, and the heads of an ox and
an ass to express the stable in which he was born.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Astrol.) A representation of the positions of the
heavenly bodies as the moment of one's birth, supposed to
indicate one's future destinies; a horoscope.
[1913 Webster]
{The Nativity}, the birth or birthday of Christ; Christmas
day.
{To cast one's nativity} or {To calculate one's nativity}
(Astrol.), to find out and represent the position of the
heavenly bodies at the time of one's birth.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
nativity
n 1: the event of being born; "they celebrated the birth of
their first child" [syn: {birth}, {nativity}, {nascency},
{nascence}] [ant: {death}, {decease}, {expiry}]
2: the theological doctrine that Jesus Christ had no human
father; Christians believe that Jesus's birth fulfilled Old
Testament prophecies and was attended by miracles; the
Nativity is celebrated at Christmas [syn: {Virgin Birth},
{Nativity}]
|
