offspring

[awf-spring, of-]

noun

plural

offspring, offsprings 

1. children or young of a particular parent or progenitor.

2. a child or animal in relation to the parent or parents.

3. a descendant.

4. descendants collectively.

5. the product, result, or effect of something.

   the offspring of an inventive mind.

offspring

/ ˈɒfˌsprɪŋ /

noun

1. the immediate descendant or descendants of a person, animal, etc; progeny

2. a product, outcome, or result

Word History and Origins

Origin of offspring¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English ofspring; off, of ¹, spring (in the sense “to descend from”)

Example Sentences

Leaders in both Washington and Beijing now see AI as a revolutionary technology that could surpass digital computing—and its offspring, the internet—in its potential for disruption.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He argued he was simply in favour of choice, that it would be equally permissible to favour homosexual offspring and that it was simply natural to want grandchildren.

Read more on BBC

Orangutans are second only to humans in how long they care for their offspring after birth.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In February, researchers collared a female mountain lion in Orange County that had offspring at the time, Kennedy said.

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As Ms. Barnéoud writes, DNA normally travels only from parent to offspring, but microchimeric cells “are climbing up the family tree, traveling back in time.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• baby 
• brood 
• child 
• cub 
• daughter 
• descendant 
• generation 
• heir 
• kid 
• progeny 
• pup 
• son