beget

verb (used with object), be·got or ( Archaic ) be·gat; be·got·ten or be·got; be·get·ting.

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

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

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English begeten (see be-, get); replacing Middle English biyeten, Old English begetan; cognate with Gothic bigitan, Old High German bigezzan

Related forms

be·get·ter, noun

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source

Link To beget

Relevant Questions

Who Said Kindness Begets...

00:10

Beget is always a great word to know.

So is gobo. Does it mean:

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Collins

World English Dictionary

beget (bɪˈɡɛt)

—vb , -gets, -getting, -got, -gat, -gotten, -got
1.	to father
2.	to cause or create

[Old English begietan; related to Old Saxon bigetan, Old High German pigezzan, Gothic bigitan to find; see be-, get]

be'getter

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

beget

O.E. begietan "to get by effort, find, acquire, attain, seize" (class V strong verb, p.t. begeat, pp. begeaton), from be- + get (q.v.). Sense of "to procreate" is from c.1200. Related to O.H.G. pigezzan, Goth. bigitan "to get, obtain."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

Example sentences

Chimney fires could beget larger blazes that would destroy blocks and blocks of

wooden houses.

Far more likely is that state violence will merely beget violence.

But soft-shell crabs beget a challenge to chefs, who come up with all sorts of

interesting and unusual ways to prepare them.

Literature reviews for new projects bring up questions that beget future work.

Want beget ad-free? Click here!

conceive engender father gender generable have

Matching Quote

"Dragons beget dragons, and phoenixes, phoenixes; and the offspring of mice will know how to chew holes."

-unknown author