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na·tiv·i·ty 
Audio Help [nuh-tiv-i-tee, ney-] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [nuh-tiv-i-tee, ney-] Pronunciation Key –noun, plural -ties.
| 1. | birth. |
| 2. | birth with reference to place or attendant circumstances: of Irish nativity. |
| 3. | (initial capital letter) the birth of Christ. |
| 4. | (initial capital letter) the church festival commemorating the birth of Christ; Christmas. |
| 5. | (initial capital letter) a representation of the birth of Christ, as in art. |
| 6. | Astrology. a horoscope of a person's birth. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
Nativity
To learn more about Nativity visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| na·tiv·i·ty
Audio Help (nə-tĭv'ĭ-tē, nā-) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. na·tiv·i·ties
[Middle English nativite, from Old French, from Latin nātīvitās, from nātīvus, born; see native.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
nativity
c.1122, from O.Fr. nativité "birth" (12c.), from L.L. nativitatem (nom. nativitas) "birth," from L. nativus "born, native" (see native). Late O.E. had nativiteð, from earlier O.Fr. nativited.
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| nativity | |
noun | |
| 1. | the event of being born; "they celebrated the birth of their first child" [syn: birth] [ant: death] |
| 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] |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
Nativity
The birth of Jesus, described in two of the Gospels (Matthew and Luke). When Jesus' parents, Mary and Joseph, traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be counted in a government census, they found that there was no room for them in the local inn. Mary gave birth to Jesus in a common stable and laid him in a manger (a feeding trough for livestock). Christians believe that Jesus' birth fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies and was attended by miraculous events, such as a star above Bethlehem that drew local shepherds as well as the Wise Men, or Magi, from a distant land.
Note: The Nativity is celebrated at Christmas. We date our present historical era from the birth of Jesus, referring to the years before his birth as b.c. (before Christ) and the years after his birth as a.d. (anno Domini, a Latin phrase meaning “in the year of the Lord”).
[Chapter:] The Bible
| The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
Nativity
Na`["i]ve`t['e]"\, n. [F. See Na["i]ve, and cf. Nativity.] Native simplicity; unaffected plainness or ingenuousness; artlessness. A story which pleases me by its na["i]vet['e] -- that is, by its unconscious ingenuousness. --De Quincey.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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