beget
Americanverb (used with object)
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begets,
present (3rd person singular)
-
begot,
past participle, past
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begat,
past (Archaic)
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begotten,
past participle (Archaic)
-
begetting
present participle
verb
-
to father
-
to cause or create
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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begetsimple
-
begetssimple
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have begotperfect
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have begottenperfect
-
has begotperfect
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has begottenperfect
-
am begettingprogressive
-
are begettingprogressive
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is begettingprogressive
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have been begettingperfect progressive
-
has been begettingperfect progressive
Past
-
begatsimple
-
begotsimple
-
had begotperfect
-
had begottenperfect
-
was begettingprogressive
-
were begettingprogressive
-
had been begettingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of beget
First recorded before 1000; Middle English begeten ( see be-, get); replacing Middle English biyeten, Old English begetan; cognate with Gothic bigitan, Old High German bigezzan
Explanation
To beget means to generate something, usually children, and it can be used to refer to the role of either a mother or a father. If we analyze the word beget, we get the prefix be-, which tends to intensify the meaning of the following verb, and get, which means to cause something to enter one's possession. The word is usually used to refer to having children, although it can be used to refer to anything that generates something else — for example, an inspiration can beget a brilliant idea.
Vocabulary lists containing beget
Motherlode: A Mother's Day Lexicon
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Words for Father's Day: What Fathers Do
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Words from Shakespearean Insults
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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.
See Examples For:
“And selling could beget selling. It could be a waterfall event.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
In general, strong stock markets beget IPO booms, and cycles can be long-lasting.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
But finding yourself in a bind necessitates clever solutions, and Park’s already dark comedy turns jet-black as the director reveals that stress can beget new talents.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2025
These downturns would create cracks in anyone’s self-esteem, but for people with NPD, the newly created cognitive dissonance between their self-image and the setback can beget a personality crisis.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2025
I wished I too had some kind of scar that would beget Baba’s sympathy.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
I always quote “beauty begets beauty,” and I can tell he does not read any literature or visit museums to stay sharp.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
Intrigue begets further intrigue, and the reader struggles to keep up with a swirl of subplots involving Sweety’s assistant, a missing computer, blackmail, gangsters and corrupt politicians.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
In markets, strength often begets more strength, or, as technicians like to say, trends once in motion tend to remain that way more likely than they are to reverse.
From Barron's ● Jan. 13, 2026
Worse: The tiny microphone begets equally small questions.
From Salon ● Jan. 11, 2026
I’m thinking about how regret begets regret begets regret, and about the cycle I’ve just broken.
From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King
And in the course of this year I gave myself, I got the show “Godspell,” and that begat other things.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2025
“Survivor” begat “The Apprentice,” sharing an executive producer in Mark Burnett.
From Salon ● May 31, 2025
He expanded his herd further that year, adding Beatrice and Benito, who begat Mellie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2024
But that broken leg also begat the greatest comeback in NFL history and led to one of the gifts Smith gave Washington football fans — a rare Thanksgiving Day win over the Dallas Cowboys.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 22, 2023
In fact, rather than Pythagoras’s triangle, there was a circle, or a cycle, at work: form begat information, and then information begat form.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Meet the next Asian film fighting style that will clobber Hollywood slap-happy just as Hong Kong wire-fu spawned “The Matrix” and Indonesia’s “The Raid” begot “John Wick.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
“I hadn’t understood, at the beginning, that public exposure begot more public exposure, that press begot more press, that parties begot more parties,” she tells us, of how the joys of attention began to curdle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Likewise, expectations are heavy on Dunn, 26, after a breakout 14-goal and team-high 50-assist season begot a four-year, $29.4 million extension.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2023
A convoluted conclusion, begot by an unconvincing change of heart, obliterates any chance of “Hunt” offering the clarity it needs to be entertaining.
From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 2022
In the meantime Lord Mantios begot Polypheides, the prophet, and Kleitos—famous name!
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Its shrinking budget has begotten a shrinking member base, leading to an even smaller budget.
From Salon ● Jan. 15, 2024
Oedipus, having begat where he was begotten, took responsibility and blinded himself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2020
“The creative inspiration people got from cheese boards has begotten creative inspiration for a lot of things,” she says.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 25, 2020
The Bible, reportedly the most translated book of all time, has begotten not only the longest-running debates about translation, including the endless war between fidelity and felicity, but also some notable misconceptions.
From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2018
“Yet not so poor,” the other replied politely, “for the women of your house do you credit, and you have begotten five healthy sons.”
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
The slicing and dicing of available tables can mean there are only so many seats at the most sought-after establishments, begetting a sense of scarcity at the highest levels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
That trend could itself be causing a vicious cycle of fewer children begetting fewer children, said Takuya Hoshino, senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.
From Reuters ● Aug. 30, 2023
The son of a goddess and a prince, he carried the ancestral burden of begetting a lineage of rulers in a foreign land.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2022
We might just be at the very beginning of the reinforcing cycle of ambition begetting more commitment, which begets more ambition.
From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2021
He was proud of their shame because it meant that he had the ability of begetting refined children.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
