beget

[bih-get]

verb (used with object)

begot , begat, begotten, begot, begetting. .

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

   Synonyms: father, breed, sire, spawn

2. to cause; produce as an effect.

   a belief that power begets power.

   Synonyms: generate, effect, engender, occasion

beget

/ bɪˈɡɛt /

verb

1. to father

2. to cause or create

Other Word Forms

• begetter noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of beget¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of beget¹

Old English begietan ; related to Old Saxon bigetan , Old High German pigezzan , Gothic bigitan to find; see _be- , _get

Example Sentences

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.

Read more on Salon

But after days of focus on the gender identity of the suspect’s alleged partner, the far-right’s response has also fueled a deluge of anti-trans rhetoric that could beget more violence.

Read more on Salon

The hayseed county that begat Richard Nixon and the boysenberry also bestowed the Righteous Brothers’ “blue-eyed soul” and the drive-in church upon the world.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Like “Mare,” the main crime begets others, on and on through the finish.

Read more on Salon

And in the course of this year I gave myself, I got the show “Godspell,” and that begat other things.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bring about 
• engender 
• sire