birthday

English

Etymology

From Middle English birthdai, birtheday, from Old English ġebyrddæġ (“birthday”), equivalent to birth +‎ day. Compare Saterland Frisian Gebuursdai (“birthday”), Dutch geboortedag (“birthday”), Low German Geboortsdag (“birthday”), German Geburtstag (“birthday”), Norwegian bursdag, gebursdag (“birthday”).

Eclipsed non-native Middle English nativitee (“birth, nativity, birthday”), from Old French nativité, nativited, from Latin nātīvitas.

Pronunciation

• (UK): IPA^(key): /ˈbɜːθ.deɪ/
• (Received Pronunciation): IPA^(key): /ˈbɜːθ.dɪ/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US): enPR: bûrthʹdā', IPA^(key): /ˈbɝθˌdeɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)θdeɪ, -ɜːθdɪ

Noun

birthday (plural birthdays)

1. The anniversary of the day on which someone is born. [From 1570s]

   When's your birthday? Mine's on April 1.

   • 1867, Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, Chapter 2: Treats Of Oliver Twist's Growth, Education, And Board,

     Oliver Twist's ninth birthday found him a pale thin child, somewhat diminutive in stature, and decidedly small in circumference.

   • 1903, L. Frank Baum, The Surprising Adventures of the Magical Monarch of Mo and His People, The Fifth Surprise: The Monarch Celebrates His Birthday,

     One of the Wise Men said the King was born in February; another declared it was in May, and a third figured the great event happened in October. So the King issued a royal decree that he should have three birthdays every year, in order to be on the safe side; and whenever he happened to think of it he put in an odd birthday or two for luck.

   • 1906, Edith Nesbit, The Railway Children, Chapter 9: The pride of Perks,

     "And we thought we'd make a nice birthday for him. He's been so awfully jolly decent to us, you know, Mother," said Peter, "and we agreed that next bun-day we'd ask you if we could."

   • c. 1911, Cotton Mather, Worthington Chauncey Ford (editor), Diary of Cotton Mather, Volume 1: 1681-1708, footnote, page 1,

     It was his custom to begin a new year's record on February 12, his birthday.

   • 1921 June 4, Birthday Honours — Companions of Honour, in The Times,

     The King's Birthday, which occurred yesterday, will be officially observed to-day, and the customary list of honours conferred on the occasion is published.

2. The anniversary of the day on which something is created.
3. The date on which someone is born or something is created, more commonly called birthdate or date of birth.
4. A birthday party.

   I'd like to invite you all to my birthday.

Derived terms

• birthday attack
• birthday blues
• birthday boy
• birthday cake
• birthday card
• birthday effect
• birthday girl
• birthday honour
• birthday paradox
• birthday problem
• birthday suit
• birthday-suited
• half birthday
• happy birthday
• heavenly birthday
• rebirthday
• unbirthday

 

Translations

anniversary

• Abenaki: piligadma
• Afrikaans: verjaarsdag (af)
• Alabama: innìhta
• Albanian: ditëlindje (sq) f
• Amharic: ልደታ (lədäta), ልደት (lədät)
• Arabic: عِيد مِيلَاد‎ m (ʿīd mīlād)

  Egyptian Arabic: عيد ميلاد‎ m (ʿīd melad)

• Armenian: ծննդյան օր (cnndyan ōr), ծնունդ (hy) (cnund)
• Asturian: cumpleaños m
• Azerbaijani: doğum günü, ad günü
• Bambara: sanyɛlɛma
• Bashkir: тыуған көн (tïwğan kön)
• Basque: urtebetetze, urtemuga, egun (eu)
• Belarusian: дзень нараджэ́ння m (dzjenʹ naradžénnja)
• Bengali: জন্মদিন (jônmôdin)
• Bislama: betde
• Breton: deiz-ha-bloaz (br) m
• Bulgarian: рожде́н ден m (roždén den)
• Burmese: မွေးနေ့ (my) (mwe:ne.)
• Buryat: түрэһэн үдэр (türehen üder)
• Catalan: aniversari (ca) m, natalici (ca) m
• Cebuano: adlawng natawhan
• Chamicuro: ipenonasne watane
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 生日 (saang¹ jat⁶), 生辰 (saang¹ san⁴), 牛一 (ngau⁴ jat¹) (slang)

  Dungan: сынжы (sɨnřɨ)

  Gan: 生日 (sen¹ liit)

  Hakka: 生日 (sâng-ngit)

  Jin: 生日 (seng¹ reh⁴)

  Mandarin: 生日 (zh) (shēngrì), 生辰 (zh) (shēngchén)

  Min Bei: 生日 (sáng-nì)

  Min Dong: 生日 (săng-nĭk)

  Min Nan: 生日 (zh-min-nan) (seⁿ-ji̍t, siⁿ-ji̍t, seng-ji̍t)

  Wu: 生日 (san nyiq)

  Xiang: 生日 (sen¹ ri⁶)

• Cornish: penn-bloodh m, pedn-bloodh m
• Corsican: anniversariu m
• Crimean Tatar: doğğan künü
• Czech: narozeniny (cs) f pl
• Danish: fødselsdag (da) c
• Dolgan: төрөөбүт күн (törööbüt kün)
• Dutch: verjaardag (nl) m
• Edo: ẹ̀dúbíẹmwẹ̏
• Esperanto: naskiĝotago, naskotago (eo), naskiĝtago (eo)
• Estonian: sünnipäev (et)
• Faroese: føðingardagur m
• Fijian: sigaanisucu (fj), siganisucu
• Finnish: syntymäpäivä (fi), (informal) synttärit (fi)
• French: anniversaire (fr) m, (Canada) fête (fr) f
• Friulian: natalizi m
• Galician: aniversario (gl) m
• Georgian: დაბადების დღე (dabadebis dɣe)
• German: Geburtstag (de) m

  Silesian: Geburtstag m

• Greek: γενέθλια (el) (genéthlia)

  Ancient: γενέθλιος f (genéthlios)

• Gujarati: વરસ ગાનત (varas gānat)
• Haitian Creole: anivèsè
• Hawaiian: lā hānau
• Hebrew: יום הולדת / יוֹם הֻלֶּדֶת‎ (he) m (yóm hulédet)
• Hindi: जन्मदिन m (janmadin), सालगिरह (hi) f (sālgirah)
• Hungarian: születésnap (hu)
• Iban: hari pengada
• Icelandic: afmælisdagur (is) m, fæðingardagur m
• Ido: naskodio (io)
• Igala: ọ́jọ́-úbí
• Igbo: nchèta ọ̄mụmụ
• Indonesian: ulang tahun (id)
• Interlingua: die natal
• Irish: lá breithe m, breithlá m
• Italian: compleanno (it) m
• Izon: zii-eréín, ziibaị́
• Japanese: 誕生日 (ja) (たんじょうび, tanjōbi), バースデー (bāsudē), 生日 (ja) (せいじつ, seijitsu)
• Jeju: 셍일날 (seng'illal)
• Kannada: ಜನ್ಮದಿನ (kn) (janmadina)
• Kapampangan: pangabayit
• Karelian: roindupäivy
• Kashmiri: زا دۄہ‎ (zā dọh), ؤہرٕوود‎ (wạhrụwōd), زایہِ دۄہ‎ (zāyhi dọh)
• Kazakh: туған күн (kk) (twğan kün)
• Khmer: ថ្ងៃខួប (thngay khuəp)
• Korean: 생일(生日) (ko) (saeng'il), 생신(生辰) (ko) (saengsin) (honorific)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: rojbûn (ku)

• Kyrgyz: туулган күнү (tuulğan künü)
• Ladino: aniversario m, kumpleanyos m
• Lao: ມື້ເກີດ (mư̄ kœ̄t), ຊົນມະທິ (son ma thi), ວັນຄ້າຍວັນເກີດ (wan khāi wan kœ̄t), ວັນເກີດ (wan kœ̄t)
• Latin: diēs nātālis f, nātālis (la) m

• Latvian: dzimšanas diena m
• Lithuanian: gimtadienis (lt) m
• Low German:

  Dutch Low Saxon: verjaordag

  German Low German: Geboortsdag (nds) m

• Luganda: amazalibwa
• Luxembourgish: Gebuertsdag (lb) m
• Lü: ᦞᧃᦵᦂᦲᧆᧉ (vank̇oed²)
• Macedonian: роденден m (rodenden)
• Malay: hari lahir (ms)
• Malayalam: പിറന്നാൾ (ml) (piṟannāḷ), ജന്മദിനം (ml) (janmadinaṃ)
• Maltese: għeluq snin
• Manx: laa ruggyree m
• Maori: rā huritau
• Marathi: वाट दिवस (vāṭ divas)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: төрсөн өдөр (törsön ödör)

  Uyghurjin: ᠲᠥᠷᠦᠭᠰᠡᠨ
  ᠡᠳᠦᠷ (törüɣsen edür)

• Navajo: hoʼdizhchínę́ęjį́ anáyííłką́
• Nepali: जन्मदिन (janmadina)
• Norman: jour de naissànse m (Guernsey)
• North Frisian: irrdäi
• Northern Sami: riegádanbeaivi, šaddanbeaivi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bursdag (no) m, fødselsdag (no) m, gebursdag (no) m

  Nynorsk: bursdag (no) m, fødselsdag m, gebursdag m

• Occitan: aniversari m
• Okinawan: 生日 (っんまりびー, 'nmaribī)
• Old English: ġebyrddæġ m
• Oriya: ଜନ୍ମଦିନ (jônmôdinô)
• Pashto: please add this translation if you can
• Persian: تولد‎ (fa) (tavallod), زادروز‎ (fa) (zādruz)
• Piedmontese: compleani m, compleann m
• Polish: urodziny (pl) pl
• Portuguese: aniversário (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਜਨਮ-ਦਿਨ m (janma-din)
• Quechua: wata junt'ay
• Romanian: aniversare (ro), zi de naștere (ro)
• Romansch: anniversari m
• Russian: день рожде́ния (ru) m (denʹ roždénija), дню́ха (ru) f (dnjúxa) (slang)
• Rusyn: народени́ны f pl (narodenýnŷ)
• Rwanda-Rundi: isabukuru 9 or 6
• Samoan: asofānau
• Sardinian: anniversariu m
• Saterland Frisian: Gebuursdai m
• Scottish Gaelic: co-latha breith m, là-breith m
• Semai: jis yesnos
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ро̏ђенда̄н m

  Roman: rȍđendān (sh) m

• Sinhalese: උපන් දිනය (upan dinaya)
• Slovak: narodeniny (sk) f pl
• Slovene: rojstni dan (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  High Sorbian: narodniny

  Low Sorbian: narodny źeń m, narodniny (pluralia tantum)

• Spanish: cumpleaños (es) m, natalicio (es) m
• Sranan Tongo: friyaridei
• Swahili: siku ya uzalishi
• Swedish: födelsedag (sv) c
• Tagalog: kaarawan
• Tajik: рӯзи таваллуд (rüzi tavallud), таваллуд (tg) (tavallud), зодрӯз (zodrüz)
• Tamil: பிறந்தநாள் (ta) (piṟantanāḷ)
• Tatar: туган көн (tuğan kön)
• Telugu: జన్మదినము (te) (janmadinamu)
• Thai: วันเกิด (th) (wan-gə̀ət)
• Tibetan: འཁྲུངས་སྐར ('khrungs skar) (honorific), སྐྱེ་ཚེས (skye tshes), སྐྱེས་སྐར (skyes skar)
• Tigrinya: ዕለተ ልደት (ʿəlätä lədät)
• Turkish: doğum günü (tr)
• Turkmen: doglan güni
• Tuvan: төрүттүнген хүнү (törüttüngen xünü)
• Ukrainian: день наро́дження m (denʹ naródžennja), уроди́ни pl (urodýny)
• Urdu: سالگرہ‎ f (sālgirah)
• Uyghur: تۇغۇلغان كۈن‎ (tughulghan kün)
• Uzbek: tugʻilan kun
• Venetian: compleano m
• Vietnamese: sinh nhật (vi) (生日)
• Volapük: motedadel (vo)
• Welsh: penblwydd m, pen-blwydd (cy) m
• West Flemish: verjaardag
• West Frisian: jierdei
• White Hmong: hnub yug
• Yakut: төрөөбүт күн (törööbüt kün)
• Yiddish: געבוירן־טאָג‎ m (geboyrn-tog), געבורטסטאָג‎ m (geburtstog)
• Yoruba: ọjọ́-ìbí
• Zulu: usuku lokuzalwa (zu)

date of birth — See also translations at date of birth

• Armenian: ծննդյան օր (cnndyan ōr)
• Bashkir: тыуған көн (tïwğan kön)
• Bengali: জন্মদিন (jônmôdin)
• Bulgarian: ден на ра́ждане m (den na ráždane), да́та на ра́ждане f (dáta na ráždane), рожде́на да́та f (roždéna dáta)
• Burmese: မွေးနေ့ (my) (mwe:ne.)
• Catalan: data de naixement
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 出生日期 (ceot¹ sang¹ jat⁶ kei⁴)

  Mandarin: 出生日期 (zh) (chūshēngrìqī)

• Czech: narozeniny (cs) f pl
• Danish: fødselsdag (da) c, fødselsdato (da) c
• Dutch: geboortedag (nl) m, geboortedatum (nl) m
• Estonian: sünnipäev (et)
• Faroese: føðingardagur m
• Finnish: syntymäaika (fi), synnyinpäivä, syntymäpäivä (fi)
• French: date de naissance (fr) f
• Georgian: დაბადების თარიღი (dabadebis tariɣi)
• German: Geburtsdatum (de) n
• Greek: ημερομηνία γεννήσεως f (imerominía genníseos)
• Hungarian: születésnap (hu), születési idő (hu)
• Icelandic: fæðingardagur m, afmælisdagur (is) m
• Indonesian: hari lahir (id)
• Italian: data di nascita f
• Japanese: 生年月日 (ja) (せいねんがっぴ, seinengappi)
• Korean: 생년월일(生年月日) (ko) (saengnyeonworil)
• Kyrgyz: чыккан күн (çıqqan kün) туулган күн (ky) (tuulğan kün)

• Latin: natalis (la) f, natalis (la) m
• Latvian: dzimšanas datums m
• Low German:

  German Low German: Geboortsdatum n

• Luxembourgish: Gebuertsdatum m
• Macedonian: датум на раѓање m (datum na raǵanje)
• Malayalam: ജനനത്തീയതി (jananattīyati)
• Maltese: data ta' twelied f
• Maori: rā whānau
• North Frisian: iirdäi
• Norwegian: fødselsdag (no) m
• Polish: data urodzenia f
• Portuguese: data de nascimento f
• Romansch: di da naschientscha m, natalizi m
• Russian: да́та рожде́ния f (dáta roždénija), день рожде́ния (ru) m (denʹ roždénija)
• Rusyn: народени́ны f pl (narodenýnŷ)
• Scottish Gaelic: co-latha breith m, là-breith m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: дан рођења m, датум рођења m

  Roman: dan rođenja m, datum rođenja m

• Shor: шыққан кӱн
• Southern Altai: чыккан кӱн (čïkkan kün), туулан кӱн (tuulan kün)
• Spanish: fecha de nacimiento f
• Swedish: födelsedag (sv) c, födelsedatum (sv) n
• Tagalog: kaarawan
• Tibetan: སྐྱེས་སྐར (skyes skar)
• Turkish: doğum tarihi (tr)
• Ukrainian: да́та наро́дження m (dáta naródžennja), день наро́дження m (denʹ naródžennja)
• Urdu: تاریخِ پیدائش‎ (tārīx-i pedā'iś), جنم دن‎ m (janm din), یومِ پیدائش‎ (yom-i pedā'iś)
• Vietnamese: ngày sinh (vi), ngày sinh tháng đẻ, ngày sanh
• White Hmong: hnub yug

Verb

birthday (third-person singular simple present birthdays, present participle birthdaying, simple past and past participle birthdayed)

1. (intransitive, informal) To celebrate one's birthday.

See also

• deathday
• name day

Anagrams

• tharybid