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I'd be most grateful to anyone who could tell me which of the following is right

  • xyz was born out of the desire to...
  • xyz was born of the desire to...
  • xyz was borne out of the desire to...
  • xyz was borne of the desire to...
  • xyz was born of desire to...
  • xyz was borne of desire to...

The context is is an explanation of how/why a software utility was created.

DroidOS
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  • The reference given by @Jeffrey Kemp explains well the difference in meaning. xyz was born* out of the desire to ...* However, Kemp has erred in conclusion, probably by not understanding the context correctly. – Kris Apr 05 '14 at 05:30

5 Answers5

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Born [out] of the desire = originated in the desire, which is what you want. Either of the first two are fine. In some constructions you could omit the but I wouldn't recommend it in this specific case.

Borne means carried and does not fit the context.

Bradd Szonye
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Fun with born vs borne! Let’s start with the idioms!

An idiom is an expression peculiar to itself, see Merriam Webster,idiom def., and as such is exempt from the conventional rules of grammar, see dictionary.com, idiom def.

Bear fruit, born out of, and born of, are idioms, according to the M-W definitions of those expressions, so let’s let them be and not worry about them!

Both born and bear have numerous meanings, but I’ll just deal with the relevant ones here!

Born and bear can both pertain to childbirth. Born is child centered, see google word search...and bear is mother centered, see Cambridge Dict., bear def.

Conjugations: born, born,born,seecooljugator.com...bear,bore,borne, see cooljugator.com, and see Cambridge Dict. Borne past participle.Also see Cambridge “Born or Borne”

Examples:

  • A child is born every minute.
  • He was born in 1950.
  • He wished he had been born in another era.
  • She assented to bear a child.
  • She bore a child.
  • She had borne six children in her lifetime.

Born also means birth of our ideas,see Cambridge def., to yield,bring forth, see M-W born, also Collins, google(New Oxford American) def, and Reverso def...same born, born, born declension.

Examples: A new business was born. A Star is born. Born-again.

Note that the above examples are not metaphors since they are based on the official dictionary definition of born.

A closing note...

Bear,bore,borne also mean prove, confirm... or carry, or tolerate Cambridge Dict., bear, def. Examples:

  • His predictions were borne out!
  • The illness was mosquito-borne.
  • He is a veteran of the 22nd Airborne Division.
  • He bore the weight of his mistakes!
  • The small truck can’t bear the load!
  • I can’t bear another pill!
  • The cost will be borne by the taxpayers. Who else?

Thank you for reading this disquisition!

Noel Hennessy
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Both borne and born are past participle forms of bear. borne is a general term intended to convey the idea of carrying something; born is specific to birth, as in literal or figurative childbirth.

So (in contradiction to my earlier answer, which I now agree was incorrect): in your case, "born of the desire" is correct, in that the desire gave birth (metaphorically) to the software that was created.

http://grammarist.com/spelling/borne-born/

http://www.grammarunderground.com/0073-born-of-or-borne-of.html

http://lessons.englishgrammar101.com/EnglishGrammar101/Module6/Lesson6-18.aspx

Jeffrey Kemp
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  • The reference makes it amply clear why born is appropriate in the OP's context and not borne. – Kris Apr 05 '14 at 05:28
  • @Kris, I respectfully disagree. "but [born* is] reserved mainly for use as the passive verb in contexts relating to birth"* Read the comments after the article. – Jeffrey Kemp Apr 05 '14 at 05:35
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    Yes, the desire "took birth" out of ..., it was not "carried on the shoulders". – Kris Apr 05 '14 at 05:36
  • See e.g. the clear distinction between "our plan has borne fruit" (i.e. a metaphorical birth) vs. "he was born yesterday" and "she is a born pianist" (both referring to a literal birth) – Jeffrey Kemp Apr 05 '14 at 05:38
  • See the example: It might equally be surmised that his 50-year silence was a ‘holy silence,’ born of the desire to* live quietly and out of public view.* – Kris Apr 05 '14 at 05:39
  • borne fruit is the past tense of bear fruit as a tree does, not give birth. – Kris Apr 05 '14 at 05:40
  • Other references: http://www.grammarunderground.com/0073-born-of-or-borne-of.html, http://lessons.englishgrammar101.com/EnglishGrammar101/Module6/Lesson6-18.aspx – Jeffrey Kemp Apr 05 '14 at 05:41
  • @Kris, borne fruit is a metaphor, it is not literal fruit on a tree; and in any case, any biologist will tell you that a tree does not give birth to fruit! – Jeffrey Kemp Apr 05 '14 at 05:42
  • Born of the desire = originated in the desire. *Borne out of the desire = carried out of the desire. – Bradd Szonye Apr 05 '14 at 06:17
  • I just re-read my second reference. "The one without the “e” is used for actual or figurative birth: a star is born, to a born loser; things are born of necessity or desperation; children are born out of wedlock." I'm inclined to agree that "born" is appropriate not only for literal childbirth but also for figurative childbirth. So I'm editing my answer accordingly. – Jeffrey Kemp Apr 05 '14 at 06:22
  • Er, "born" and "borne" are *past participle* forms of the verb "bear". – F.E. Apr 05 '14 at 06:37
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    Also, :) . . . "borne" is used in stuff like "His wife *had borne* him a son". -- And so, basically, "borne" is used in everything *except* in the limited usage that "born" is used in: "born" is restricted to usages that have a *passive interpretation* for a situation where something is literally or figuratively born (i.e. the act of birth), e.g. *"He was born to a family of potters", "His idea was born from necessity." And so, the easier way to explain it is to give the definition of "born" first, and then say that "borne" is for everything else. imo. – F.E. Apr 05 '14 at 07:41
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    Often, a general purpose dictionary will have a usage note on "born vs borne" in their "bear" entry. Good/better info is usually found in a usage dictionary, such as Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage. (The stuff online, like grammar sites and EFL-sites and blogs, including wikipedia, them ain't reliable.) – F.E. Apr 05 '14 at 07:48
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OED: "this assumption is not borne out by any evidence"

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/bear

Lethal-Leigh-3
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  • xyz was born out of the desire to... (correct)
  • xyz was born of the desire to... (correct)
  • xyz was borne out of the desire to... (correct)
  • xyz was borne of the desire to... (correct)
  • xyz was born of desire to... (incorrect)
  • xyz was borne of desire to... (incorrect)

In your specific case, xyz was born out of the desire to... is the best one to use. Still, it is acceptable to use xyz was borne out of the desire to... as well.

xyz was born out of the desire to fulfill a vacuum in the ABC industry.

Born because it has given rise to the need to address a given issue.

xyz was borne out of the desire to carry on ABC's legacy in the industry.

Borne because it has been created to continue on (to carry on).

The other forms are older versions of stating the same. If you read Oscar Wilde or authors with a similar style from that time, you will find the style used quite often. In fact, if you're writing something as a creative document or opinion, it might be better to use the other form (xyz was born(e) of the desire to...) as it sounds a bit more nostalgic poetic (in a sense).

Tucker
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