n.; pl. Nativies [ F. nativité, L. nativitas. See Native, and cf. Naïveté. ] 1. The coming into life or into the world; birth; also, the circumstances attending birth, as time, place, manner, etc. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ] I have served him from the hour of my nativity. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] Thou hast left . . . the land of thy nativity. Ruth ii. 11. [ 1913 Webster ] These in their dark nativity the deep Shall yield us, pregnant with infernal flame. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. (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. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. (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. [ 1913 Webster ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]
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