The Collaborative International Dictionary
Nativity \Na*tiv"i*ty\, n.; pl. Nativies. [F. nativit['e], L. nativitas. See Native, and cf. Na["i]vet['E].]
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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. (Fine Arts) (capitalized) 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.
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(Astrol.) A representation of the positions of the heavenly bodies as the moment of one's birth, supposed to indicate one's future destinies; a horoscope.
The Nativity, the birth or birthday of Christ; Christmas day.
To cast one's nativity or To calculate one's nativity (Astrol.), to find out and represent the position of the heavenly bodies at the time of one's birth.