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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

be·get

Audio Help [bi-get] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object), be·got or (Archaic

) be·gat; be·got·ten or be·got; be·get·ting.

1.	(esp. of a male parent) to procreate or generate (offspring).

2.	to cause; produce as an effect: a belief that power begets power.

[Origin: bef. 1000; ME begeten (see be-, get); r. ME biyeten, OE begetan; c. Goth bigitan, OHG bigezzan

]

—Related forms

be·get·ter, noun

—Synonyms 1. spawn, sire, breed, father. 2. occasion, engender, effect, generate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

be·get Audio Help (bĭ-gět') Pronunciation Key
tr.v. be·got (-gŏt'), be·got·ten (-gŏt'n) or be·got, be·get·ting, be·gets

To father; sire.
To cause to exist or occur; produce: Violence begets more violence.

[Middle English biyeten, bigeten, from Old English begetan; see ghend- in Indo-European roots.]

be·get'ter n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
beget

O.E. begietan "to get by effort, find, acquire, attain, seize," from be- + get (q.v.). Sense of "to procreate" is from 1205.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

beget
verb
make children; "Abraham begot Isaac"; "Men often father children but don't recognize them"

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Beget

Be*get"\, v. t. [imp. Begot, (Archaic) Begat; p. p. Begot, Begotten; p. pr. & vb. n. Begetting.] [OE. bigiten, bigeten, to get, beget, AS. begitan to get; pref. be- + gitan. See Get, v. t. ]

1. To procreate, as a father or sire; to generate; -- commonly said of the father.

Yet they a beauteous offspring shall beget. --Milton.

2. To get (with child.) [Obs.] --Shak.

3. To produce as an effect; to cause to exist.

Love is begot by fancy. --Granville.

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