offshoot
Americannoun
-
a branch or lateral shoot from a main stem, as of a plant.
-
anything conceived of as springing or proceeding from a main stock.
an offshoot of a discussion.
-
a branch, descendant, or scion of a specific population or family.
noun
-
a shoot or branch growing from the main stem of a plant
-
something that develops or derives from a principal source or origin
Etymology
Origin of offshoot
Explanation
On a plant, an offshoot is a sprout or shoot that branches off. From this botanical meaning, offshoot has come to describe anything that starts or grows from something else. You can start a whole new plant with a houseplant's offshoot, by putting it in water and waiting for it to grow roots. Another kind of offshoot is a local branch of a library, an offshoot of the central location, or an offshoot of a popular TV show, also called a "spin-off." Interestingly, the earliest definition of offshoot, in the seventeenth century, referred to family trees. It wasn't until 1814 that offshoot was used for actual plants.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Offshoot communities have been formed nearby in Blooming Grove, among other places in the county.
From New York Times • Aug. 14, 2019
Offshoot industries are springing up, such as those making pocket calculators, digital watches and the countless component products that go into computers.
From US News • Aug. 12, 2016
Offshoot studies have looked at everything from the role of tantrums in depressed children to how depressed preschoolers perform on cognitive tasks.
From New York Times • Aug. 26, 2010
Offshoot of relativity was the recognition of a duality in Space's structure.
From Time Magazine Archive
Offshoot of the NRA coal code, the agreement prescribed conditions of labor for some 314,000 diggers in hitherto non-union mines.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
