Nativity \Na*tiv"i*ty\, n.; pl. Nativies. [F. nativit['e], L. nativitas. See Native, and cf. Na["i]vet['E].]

1. 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.

2. (Fine Arts) 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.

3. (Astrol.) A representation of the positions of the heavenly bodies as the moment of one's birth, supposed to indicate his future destinies; a horoscope.

The Nativity, the birth or birthday of Christ; Christmas day.

To

cast, or calculate,

one's nativity (Astrol.), to find out and represent the position of the heavenly bodies at the time of one's birth.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)