beget

[bih-get]

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 of beget

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

Related formsbe·get·ter, noun

Synonyms for beget

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for begets

engender, sire, procreate, get, afford, breed, father, effect, reproduce, bring, produce, propagate, multiply, occasion, cause, generate

Examples from the Web for begets

Contemporary Examples of begets

And just as buying begets more buying, selling often begets more selling.
Japan’s Stock Market Suffers as Investors Worry About Success of Abenomics
William O’Connor
June 13, 2013
It also begets a plastic surgery chic, where people trade faces like they do cars.
My Day With Paris
Tom Tapp
November 4, 2008

Historical Examples of begets

This begets a very natural question; What is meant by a sceptic?
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
David Hume
These lies are like the father that begets them; gross as a mountain, open palpable.
The Universal Reciter
Various
This she said with that genuine tone which begets confidence.
Is He Popenjoy?
Anthony Trollope
They make for him a fame which begets respect where his wrongs only excited pity.
Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence
Various
It begets a solitude in a vast thronged assemblage for you and for me.
The Dop Doctor
Clotilde Inez Mary Graves

British Dictionary definitions for begets

beget

verb -gets, -getting, -got, -gat, -gotten or -got (tr)

to father
to cause or create

Derived Formsbegetter, noun

Word Origin for beget

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for begets

beget

Old English begietan "to get by effort, find, acquire, attain, seize" (class V strong verb, past tense begeat, past participle begeaton), from be- + get (v.). Sense of "to procreate" is from c.1200. Related to Old High German pigezzan, Gothic bigitan "to get, obtain." Related: Begot; begotten.