mid-15c., "of low birth;" 1590s as "not honorable, of low character;" from French ignoble (14c.), from Latin ignobilis "unknown, undistinguished, obscure; of base birth, not noble," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + gnobilis "well-known, famous, renowned, of superior birth," from PIE root *gno- "to know." Related: Ignobly; ignobility.
1580s, "of noble birth," from French généreux (14c.), from Latin generosus "of noble birth," figuratively "magnanimous, generous," from genus (genitive generis) "race, stock" (from PIE root *gene- "give birth, beget," with derivatives referring to procreation and familial and tribal groups). Secondary senses of "unselfish" (1690s) and "plentiful" (1610s) in English were present in French and in Latin. Related: Generously; generousness.
"act of bringing forth or being delivered of young," 1640s, from Latin parturitionem (nominative parturitio), noun of action from past-participle stem of parturire "be in labor" (see parturient). Middle English had parturite (early 15c.) "a birth, the process of giving birth."
"urinate," by 1835, from micturition; malformed and with an erroneous sense; condemned from its birth.
1690s, "a theory of the creation;" 1766 as "the creation of the universe;" 1777 as "science of the origin of the universe," from Latinized form of Greek kosmogonia "creation of the world," from kosmos "world, universe" (see cosmos) + -gonia "a begetting," from gonos "birth" (from PIE root *gene- "give birth, beget"). Related: Cosmogonal; cosmogonic; cosmogonist.
