engender

[ en-jen-der ]

/ ɛnˈdʒɛn dər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR engender ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to produce, cause, or give rise to: Hatred engenders violence.

to beget; procreate.

verb (used without object)

to be produced or caused; come into existence: Conditions for a war were engendering in Europe.

Nearby words

engel's law, engelmann spruce, engelmann's disease, engels, engels, friedrich, engender, enghien, d', engild, engin., engine, engine company

Origin of engender

1275–1325; Middle English < Old French engendrer < Latin ingenerāre, equivalent to in- en-¹ + generāre to beget; see generate

SYNONYMS FOR engender

1 beget, occasion, excite, stir up.

1, 2 create, generate, breed.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR engender ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

en·gen·der·er, nounen·gen·der·ment, nounun·en·gen·dered, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for engender

King: We must expunge from our society the myths and half-truths that engender such groundless fears as these.
Alex Haley’s 1965 Playboy Interview with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.|Alex Haley|January 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But their point is to show how strong Putin is rather than engender competition.
Russia’s Cynical Foreign Policy Play|Peter Pomerantsev|September 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Moreover, it will engender even greater dissatisfaction among the population.
Why The PA Shouldn’t Be Dissolved|Brent E. Sasley|March 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In Europe, the European Central Bank is a much newer institution, but still manages to engender strong feelings.
Mario Draghi May Become the Man Who Saved Europe—and the World|Zachary Karabell|September 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Among observers, she does not engender protective feelings so much as awe—and, among detractors, anxiety.
Michelle Obama’s Democratic Convention Speech: What She Needs to Do|Michelle Cottle|September 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
In Italy, Basil is considered potent to inspire love, and its scent is thought to engender sympathy.
Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics|Richard Folkard
He eats no lotus, but for-ever quaffs the waters which engender immortal thirst.
Literary and Social Essays|George William Curtis
It was impossible that the place should not engender some thought of the kind.
A Struggle For Life|Thomas Bailey Aldrich
We should acquaint our patient of its explanation, and so obviate the mental depression which its existence is apt to engender.
Tics and Their Treatment|Henry Meigne
That peculiar obstinacy which slaveholding dominion seems to engender, made them, as with us, bent on having all or nothing.
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 1, July, 1863|Various

British Dictionary definitions for engender

engender

/ (ɪnˈdʒɛndə) /

verb

(tr) to bring about or give rise to; produce or cause

to be born or cause to be born; bring or come into being

Derived Forms

engenderer, nounengenderment, noun

Word Origin for engender

C14: from Old French engendrer, from Latin ingenerāre, from generāre to beget

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