WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Na*tiv"i*ty
Part of Speech : n.;
Etymology : [F. nativit?, L. nativitas. See Native, and cf. Na?vet?.]
Definition : 1. The coming into life or into the world; birth; also, the circumstances attending birth, as time, place, manner, etc. Chaucer. I have served him from the hour of my nativity. Shak. Thou hast left ... the land of thy nativity. Ruth ii. 11. These in their dark nativity the deep Shall yield us, pregnant with infernal flame. Milton.

2. (Fine Arts)

Defn: A picture representing or symbolizing the early infancy of Christ. The simplest form is the babe in a rude cradle, and the heads of an ox and an ass to express the stable in which he was born.

3. (Astrol.)

Defn: A representation of the positions of the heavenly bodies as the moment of one's birth, supposed to indicate his future destinies; a horoscope. The Nativity, the birth or birthday of Christ; Christmas day. -- To cast, or calculate, one's nativity (Astrol.), to find out and represent the position of the heavenly bodies at the time of one's birth.

pl. Nativies.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913