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beget

 - 3 dictionary results

be⋅get

  [bi-get]
–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.
Use beget in a Sentence
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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To beget
be·get   (bĭ-gět')   
tr.v.   be·got (-gŏt'), be·got·ten (-gŏt'n) or be·got, be·get·ting, be·gets

  1. To father; sire.

  2. 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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

beget 
O.E. begietan "to get by effort, find, acquire, attain, seize," from be- + get (q.v.). Sense of "to procreate" is from 1205.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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