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HUBLOT Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Newborn

- Janet has a newborn baby.
- Janet has a newborn.

I think both are correct, but do you think it's rare to use "newborn" as a noun?
  

Top answer

No, it's not rare at all. In fact, I find "newborn baby" to be redundant. You can have babies that are not newborns, but you can't have a newborn that is not a baby.

— BarbaraPA

  • No, it's not rare at all.
  • In fact, I find "newborn baby" to be redundant.
  • You can have babies that are not newborns, but you can't have a newborn that is not a baby.
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5 Answers
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No, it's not rare at all.

In fact, I find "newborn baby" to be redundant. You can have babies that are not newborns, but you can't have a newborn that is not a baby.
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This seems to be a BrE/AmE difference. To me, a speaker of BrE, 'a newborn' sounds strange, and there is only one citation in the British National Corpus. There are many citations in the Corpus of Contemporary American English. There are citations for 'newborn baby' in both.
Grammar GeekIn fact, I find "newborn baby" to be redundant.
I don't agree. As you say,
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I'm okay with "She's home with her newborn baby girl" or "... her newborn baby boy." It's just "newborn baby" alone that is redundant.

But we do use it as a noun fairly often.
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Grammar Geek It's just "newborn baby" alone that is redundant.
That's your opinion, but there are 220 citations for 'newborn baby' in COCA, so quite a few people feel differently.
Grammar GeekBut we do use it as a noun fairly often.
We don't in BrE.
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We Americans, I meant.
It was intended as supplemental, not contradictory, information to your comment about it being a American/UK difference.
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