Are our ideas born out of thin air? Or borne? Really, who can care when staring at this cute newborn baby, amiright?
For this often-confusing word choice, we turn to the dictionary. (Fun fact: For most of those words you can’t figure out, Merriam-Webster has your back.)
Both words originate from the verb bear.
Born is a past-tense verb of the verb meaning “to give birth.” Merriam-Webster points out it is typically used in the passive voice. For example:
- My idea for my new book was born in my home kitchen.
- He was born in 1952.
- My son was born to be a baseball player.
- Shelley was a born writer.
Borne is also a past-tense verb. It’s mostly used to refer to carrying something, especially figuratively (such as a burden), or transmitted. For example:
- The costs associated with obesity and poor nutrition are ultimately borne by all of us.
- And that is borne out by the data released in the latest NIH report.
- Oh, great. The virus is airborne.
And just to make it confusing, you might also see it used to mean “to give birth” (particularly as an active past participle) as in:
- For a woman who’d borne four children naturally, a little pain was nothing.
—SC