Word.ws English Dictionary

to the manner born

to the manner born adjective: familiar or adapted as if from birth with a specified custom, behavior, accouterment, etc.; naturally suited to it.

Adjective

to the manner born

  1. Familiar or adapted as if from birth with a specified custom, behavior, accouterment, etc.; naturally suited to it.
    • This [...] involved not only wearing certain clothes as if to the manner born, but being familiar with the gestures and the style of conversation associated with such clothes.1977, Gāmini Salgādo, The Elizabethan Underworld, Folio Society, published 2006, page 16
    • Stephen Ward, a winger converted to emergency left-back two months ago, now looks to the manner born.2008 November 10, Jeremy Alexander, The Guardian

Origin of to the manner born

Coined by William Shakespeare in 1603 in Hamlet, act 1, scene 4: : But to my mind, though I am native here : And to the manner born, it is a custom : More honored in the breach than the observance.

Questions about to the manner born

What does to the manner born mean?
To the manner born means familiar or adapted as if from birth with a specified custom, behavior, accouterment, etc.; naturally suited to it.
What part of speech is to the manner born?
To the manner born is an adjective.

Words near to the manner born in the dictionary

  1. to the last man
  2. to the left
  3. to the letter
  4. to the life
  5. to the limit
  6. to the manner born
  7. to the manor born
  8. to the marrow
  9. to the max
  10. to the minute
  11. to the moon

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: to the manner born (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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