berth
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɜːθ/
enpr: bûrth
ipa: /bɜɹθ/
ipa: /bɛɹθ/
ipa: /bøːθ/
note: Liverpool, fair–fur merger
ipa: /beːθ/
note: Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger
ipa: /bɛːθ/
homophone: birth (fern–fir–fur merger)
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)θ
Forms: form: berths
form: birth
form: byrth
Etymology: The noun is derived from Late Middle English birth (“(nautical) bearing away or off, clearance, berth”). Further etymology uncertain, but probably from beren (“to carry (away), bear”) + -th (suffix denoting a condition, quality, state of being, etc., forming nouns); if so, the English word is analysable as bear + -th (suffix forming nouns from verbs), and is a piecewise doublet of birth.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: Tho' vve vvere again got near our harbour by three in the afternoon, yet it ſeemed to require a full hour or more, before vve could come to our former place of anchoring, or birth, as the captain called it.
ref: a. 1755 (date written), Henry Fielding, The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon, […], London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], published 1755, →OCLC, page 191:
text: "[…] She lays close to the Endymion, between her and the Cleopatra, just to the eastward of the sheer hulk." / "Ha!" cried William, "that's just where I should have put her myself. It's the best birth at Spithead.[…]"
ref: 1816 February 19, [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Mansfield Park: […], 2nd edition, volume III, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for J[ohn] Murray, […], →OCLC, page 151:
text: The voyage was a skilful and lucky one; and returning to her berth with her hold full of the precious sperm, the Amelia's example was soon followed by other ships, English and American, and thus the vast Sperm Whale grounds of the Pacific were thrown open.
ref: 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Decanter”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, pages 493–494:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: Chiefly in wide berth: a sufficient space in the water for a ship or other vessel to lie at anchor or manoeuvre without getting in the way of other vessels, or colliding into rocks or the shore.
A place for a vessel to lie at anchor or to moor.
examples: text: And vvhen he had ſhevvn me their birth (as he called it) I vvas filled vvith aſtoniſhment and horror.—VVe deſcended by divers ladders to a ſpace as dark as a dungeon, vvhich I underſtood vvas immerſed ſeveral feet under vvater, being immediately above the hold: I had no ſooner approached this diſmal gulph, than my noſe vvas ſaluted vvith an intolerable ſtench of putrified cheeſe, and rancid butter, […]
ref: 1748, [Tobias Smollett], “I am Reduced to Great Misery—Assaulted on Tower-hill by a Press-gang, who Put Me on Board a Tender—My Usage there—My Arrival on Board of the Thunder Man of War, […]”, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume I, London: […] [William Strahan] for J[ohn] Osborn […], →OCLC, page 226:
text: But not only was this the first day that Jack may be said to have appeared in the service, but it was the first day in which he had entered the midshipman's berth, and was made acquainted with his messmates.
ref: 1836, [Frederick Marryat], “Showing how Jack transgresses against his own philosophy”, in Mr. Midshipman Easy […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, pages 141–142:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: Chiefly in wide berth: a sufficient space in the water for a ship or other vessel to lie at anchor or manoeuvre without getting in the way of other vessels, or colliding into rocks or the shore.
A room in a vessel in which the officers or company mess (“eat together”) and reside; also, a room or other place in a vessel for storage.
examples: text: Passengers their births are clapt in, / Some to grumble, some to spew. / 'Hey day! call you that a cabin? / Why 'tis hardly three feet square; / Not enough to stow Queen Mab in— / Who the deuce can harbour there?'
ref: 1809 June 30, Lord Byron, “Letter XXXVI. To Mr. Hodgson.”, in Thomas Moore, editor, Letters and Journals of Lord Byron: With Notices of His Life, […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], published 1830, →OCLC, stanza 3, page 191:
text: Just at this moment, in crossing the forecastle, one of the men saw a light below, and looking down the scuttle, saw the watch all out of their berths, and afoul of one poor fellow, dragging him out of his berth, and shaking him, to wake him out of a nightmare.
ref: 1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., chapter XXX, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC, page 367:
text: All dressed and dusty as he is, Jonah throws himself into his berth, and finds the little state-room ceiling almost resting on his forehead. […] The lamp alarms and frightens Jonah; as lying in his berth his tormented eyes roll round the place, and this thus far successful fugitive finds no refuge for his restless glance.
ref: 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Sermon”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 48:
text: By what I then thought to be great good luck I had succeeded in getting a three-berth cabin for myself and my little boy alone—Nos. 45, 46, 47—on the starboard side of the ship.
ref: 1885 December, [Alice Kipling], “The Haunted Cabin”, in Quartette, the Christmas Annual of the Civil & Military Gazette, Lahore, British India: The “Civil and Military Gazette” Press, →OCLC, page 41:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: Chiefly in wide berth: a sufficient space in the water for a ship or other vessel to lie at anchor or manoeuvre without getting in the way of other vessels, or colliding into rocks or the shore.
A place on a vessel to sleep, especially a bed on the side of a cabin.
examples: text: He was now a temperate man for life, and capable of filling any berth in a ship, and many a high station there is on shore which is held by a meaner man.
ref: 1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., chapter XXIII, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC, page 247:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: Chiefly in wide berth: a sufficient space in the water for a ship or other vessel to lie at anchor or manoeuvre without getting in the way of other vessels, or colliding into rocks or the shore.
A job or position on a vessel.
examples: text: [W]ith worldly wisdom, the first comer hastens to secure the best birth in the coach for himself, and to make the most convenient arrangement for his baggage before the arrival of his competitor.
ref: 1816, [Walter Scott], chapter I, in The Antiquary. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, pages 6–7:
glosses: An assigned place for a person in (chiefly historical) a horse-drawn coach or other means of transportation, or (military) in a barracks.
examples: text: Some passengers boarded the train there and I heard a woman's low tones, a southern voice, rich and full. Then quiet again. Every nerve was tense: time passed, perhaps ten minutes, possibly half an hour. Then, without the slightest warning, as the train rounded a curve, a heavy body was thrown into my berth.
ref: 1909, Mary Roberts Rinehart, “A Torn Telegram”, in The Man in Lower Ten, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC, page 27:
text: It is realised that the old Pullman standard sleeper, with its convertible "sections", each containing upper and lower berths, and with no greater privacy at night than the curtains drawn along both sides of a middle aisle, has had its day.
ref: 1944 November–December, “‘Duplex Roomette’ Sleeping Cars”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 324:
glosses: A bunk or other bed for sleeping on in a caravan, a train, etc.
topics: road
transport
glosses: A place for a vehicle on land to park.
examples: text: He vvas a Surgeon, and they called him Doctor; but he vvas not employed in the Sloop as a Surgeon, but vvas going to Berbadoes to get a Birth, as the Sailors call it.
ref: 1720, [Daniel Defoe], The Life, Adventures, and Pyracies, of the Famous Captain Singleton, London: […] J[ohn] Brotherton, […], J[ohn] Graves […], A[nne] Dodd, […], and T[homas] Warner, […], →OCLC, page 186:
text: [Y]ou have got a good vvarm birth here; but vve ſhall beat up your quarters. Here, Lucy, Moll, come to the fire, and dry your trumpery.
ref: 1778, [Frances Burney], “Letter XVI. Evelina to the Rev. Mr. Villars.”, in Evelina, or, A Young Lady’s Entrance into the World, volume I, London: […] T[homas] Lowndes, […], →OCLC, page 103:
text: Howsomever, I 'll do the very best I can in gettin' Tom a good berth; as to my treatin' on him bad, you need n't be a grain afeard.
ref: 1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “An Evening in Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume I, Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLC, page 53:
text: How glad I am that he has got a snug berth in the City! His company really prospers, I am happy to think, unlike some companies you know of, Pen.
ref: 1855, Arthur Pendennis [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “Belisarius”, in The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], →OCLC, page 309:
glosses: An appointment, job, or position, especially one regarded as comfortable or good.
examples: text: The road was very narrow, with no opportunity of giving the apparent phantom what seamen call a wide birth.
ref: 1830, Walter Scott, “Letter X”, in Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft, […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 386:
text: Sir Barnes Newcome, for fear of consequences that I should deplore, I recommend you to keep a wide berth of me, sir.
ref: 1855, Arthur Pendennis [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “In which Kinsmen Fall Out”, in The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], →OCLC, page 150:
text: [W]e / Thought it but wise to keep the open sea / And give to warring lands a full wide berth; […]
ref: 1868, William Morris, “Prologue—The Wanderers”, in The Earthly Paradise: A Poem, parts [I and II], London: F[rederick] S[tartridge] Ellis, […], →OCLC, page 17:
text: Tarzan had been wont to traverse the Rue Maule on his way home at night. Because it was very quiet and very dark it reminded him more of his beloved African jungle than did the noisy and garish streets surrounding it. If you are familiar with your Paris you will recall the narrow, forbidding precincts of the Rue Maule. If you are not, you need but ask the police about it to learn that in all Paris there is no street to which you should give a wider berth after dark.
ref: 1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “What Happened in the Rue Maule”, in The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, […], published March 1915, →OCLC, page 34:
glosses: Chiefly in wide berth: a sufficient space for manoeuvring or safety.
examples: text: [T]he Maſter-builders appoint the VVorking or Converting, as they call it, of every Piece of Timber, and give to the other Head-vvorkmen or Foremen, their Moulds for the ſquaring and cutting out of every Piece, and placing it in its proper Byrth (ſo they call it) in the Ship that is in Building; […]
ref: 1742, [Daniel Defoe], “Letter III. Containing a Description of the County of Kent, &c.”, in A Tour thro’ the Whole Island of Great Britain. […], 3rd edition, volume I, London: […] J[ohn] Osborn, […], →OCLC, pages 140–[141]:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A proper place for a thing.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A position or seed in a tournament bracket.
examples: text: Olivier Giroud then entered the fray and [Theo] Walcott reverted to his more familiar berth on the right wing, quickly creating his side's fifth goal by crossing for Giroud to send a plunging header into the net from close range.
ref: 2012 December 29, Paul Doyle, “Arsenal's Theo Walcott hits hat-trick in thrilling victory over Newcastle”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Aug 2022:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A position on a field of play.
Derived terms: berthless
berthside
foul berth
sleeper berth
starting berth
V-berth
wide berth