Nativity

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /nəˈtɪváµ»ti/
• UK IPA: /nəˈtɪvəɾi/
• Rhymes: -ɪvɪti

Origin

From Anglo-Norman nativite, Middle French nativite, and their source, Latin nātīvitās ("birth").

Full definition of nativity

Noun

1. (now dated) Someone's birth; the place, time and circumstances of a birth. from 14th c.
2. (also with capital initial) The birth of Jesus. from 14th c.
3. (Christianity) The festival celebrating the birth of Jesus; Christmas Day. from 12th c.
4. (astrology) Someone's birth considered as a means of astrology; a horoscope associated with a person's birth. from 14th c.
• 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society 2012, p. 313:Accordingly … he was careful, as befitted a Fellow of the Royal Society, to note the exact nativity of his subjects whenever it could be discovered; in this way he hoped to make possible a scientific comparison of the course of human life with the astrological circumstances of its inception, and ths to arrive at a more exact astrology.

Derived terms

• nativity play
• Nativity Scene

Related terms

• natal
• natality
• native