Beget
verb ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 To produce or bring forth (a child); to be a parent of; to father or sire. literary, transitive
"The King intends to beget a child within the next five years."
- 2 make (offspring) by reproduction wordnet
- 3 To cause; to produce; to bring forth. literary, transitive
"Wealth begets wealth; poverty begets poverty."
- 4 To get or obtain. literary, obsolete, transitive
"If there bee neuer a Seruant-monſter i' the Fayre, who can helpe it, he ſayes ; nor a neſt of Antiques ? Hee is loth to make Nature afraid in his Playes, like thoſe that beget Tales, Tempeſts, and ſuch like Drolleries, […]"
- 5 To happen to; befall. UK, dialectal, literary, transitive
Example
More examples"If Adam and Eve were the first and up to that point only people, who did beget their grandchildren?"
Etymology
From Middle English begeten [influenced by Old Norse geta ("to get, to guess")], from Old English beġietan (“to get”), from Proto-Germanic *bigetaną (“to find, seize”), equivalent to be- + get. Cognate with Old Saxon bigetan (“to find, seize”), Old High German bigezan (“to gain, achieve, win, procure”).