Born means to come into existence through birth. When a baby is born, it emerges from its mother's body and begins life in the world. The doctor might announce “It's a girl!” and mark down the exact time she was born.

Every person has a birthday because everyone was born on a specific day. You might say “I was born in Chicago” or “My grandmother was born in 1952.” Animals are born too: a calf is born in a barn, or puppies are born in a cozy box.

The word also describes natural talents or characteristics someone has from the start. A born leader shows leadership qualities even as a young child. A born athlete moves with natural grace and coordination. When we say someone is a born storyteller, we mean they seem to have that gift naturally.

Sometimes born describes the beginning of something new. The phrase born of explains where something came from: “Her success was born of years of hard work and determination.”

As an adjective, born is usually used with a form of “to be,” as in “was born,” or in phrases like born leader and born of.