inbirth

inbirth

English

Etymology

From in- +‎ birth. Compare Old English inberþ, inbyrd (“born within one's estate; native-born”).

Noun

inbirth (plural inbirths)

1. (rare) An inner or inward birth
   • 1835, The Shepherd - Issues 1-33:

     My dear invisible Church (truly invisible, even to its pastor, as I never set eyes on one of you)-my dear Church, I'll let you into a secret—I am no mystic; I never in my life was in a “high sphere," and never experienced an “inbirth."

   • 1847, James Pierrepont Greaves, The New Nature in the Soul:

     Until the dark fiery soul consents to die, to the light and glory of this temporal nature, the light and glory of eternal nature cannot arise in it as an essential inbirth, and qualify it with these eternal qualities, which it is vainly seeking for amidst temporal effigies.

   • 1886, Johannes Tauler, The Following of Christ:

     Two kinds of birth take place in the soul — one is called an inbirth, the other an outbirth.

   • 1940, A. H. Gebhard-L'Estrange, The Tradition of Silence in Myth and Legend:

     The Church is concerned with the human soul, and its teaching bears upon the creature's bliss or suffering during life on earth and in the state after death. Totally different is the doctrine of eternal Truth — the Inbirth of the Light into the Soul.

   • 1952, Ida C. Knapp, Myself the challenger:

     Man the creator is the inbirth of God the creator; he is immersed in the universal spirit of creation.

Anagrams

• birthin'