born / bôrn/ • past participle of bear¹ (sense 4).• adj. existing as a result of birth: he was born in Seattle she was born Margaret Roberts [in comb.] a German-born philosopher. ∎  having a natural ability to do a particular job or task: he's a born engineer. ∎  perfectly suited or trained to do a particular job or task: they believe that they are born to rule. ∎  (of a thing) brought into existence: her own business was born. ∎  (born of) existing as a result of a particular situation or feeling: a power born of obsession.PHRASES: born and bred by birth and upbringing, esp. when considered a typical product of a place: he was a born and bred product of the Bronx.I (she, etc.) wasn't born yesterday used to remind someone that one isn't naive.

born born in the purple born into an imperial or royal family as a porphyrogenite; purple was originally the dye used for fabric worn by an emperor or senior magistrate in Rome or Byzantium.
born under a lucky star naturally fortunate; a proverbial phrase reflecting belief in planetary influences on one's fortunes.
born with a silver spoon in one's mouth proverbial expression for being born in affluence.
if you're born to be hanged then you'll never be drowned used to qualify apparent good luck which may have an unhappy outcome. Recorded from the late 16th century; a similar saying, ‘he cannot drown who must hang,’ is recorded in mid 14th-century French.

See also born within sound of Bow Bells, because a man is born in a stable that does not make him a horse, to the manner born.

born, borne var. forms of the pp. (OE. boren) of BEAR2. differentiated since c.1600; born is now no longer assoc. with bear, the phr. to be born being an independent intr. verb equiv. to F. naītre, L. nāsci; borne is retained in lit. use for ‘carried’, ‘endured’.