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Synonyms

progeny

American  
[proj-uh-nee] / ˈprɒdʒ ə ni /

noun

  • progeny,
    plural
  • progenies
    plural
  1. a descendant or offspring, as a child, plant, or animal.

  2. such descendants or offspring collectively.

  3. something that originates or results from something else; outcome; issue.


progeny British  
/ ˈprɒdʒɪnɪ /

noun

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

  2. a result or outcome

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of progeny

1250–1300; Middle English progenie < Middle French < Latin prōgeniēs offspring, equivalent to prō- pro- 1 + gen-, base of gignere to beget (akin to kin ) + -iēs feminine noun suffix


Explanation

Progeny means "offspring" or "children." You and your brothers are the progeny of your parents, and your cat's new litter of kittens is her progeny. Synonyms for progeny include descendants, product, and offspring, so you're also your grandparents' and great-grandparents' progeny. And, if your pet goat has babies every spring, you'll get to raise dozens of her progeny. Plants have progeny too — blow the fluffy seeds of a dandelion in your yard and its progeny can multiply, summer after summer, until your lawn is full of cheerful yellow flowers.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing progeny

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:

One could see this as yet another case of nepo-baby triumph — streaming is currently littered with the progeny of famous parents — or simply a living example of the film’s theme.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Family was a major theme of the night, with numerous stars spotlighting their talented progeny, as was the importance of soulful artistry.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

And Standard Oil’s progeny formed the core of the “Seven Sisters” oil majors that divvied up among themselves the Middle East’s resources until the 1970s.

From Barron's ● May 7, 2026

“It was an odd pairing: Harold Macmillan, the inhibited, repressed publisher’s son, and Bob Boothby, the warm, witty progeny of an Edinburgh banker,” writes Lynne Olson.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025

He was ambitious in the extreme, and like Walt McCandless, his aspirations extended to his progeny.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

The series wisely taps some familiar faces from Bravo shows of yore, tossing “Housewives” progenies Ariana Biermann, Riley Burruss, Gia Giudice and Brooks Marks into the batter before adding a few special ingredients.

From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2025

Symbolically, though, the first of Johnson’s hallmark progenies graced a route that bendies had snaked along and where the Routemaster had met its end – the number 38, which links Hackney with Victoria.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 3, 2015

But more than just being little progenies, the Smith children combine their beyond-their-years giftedness with a truly kid-like apparent pleasure in what they do.

From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2010

The father and grandfather and uncle and great-uncles, the great-grandfather and great-great-uncles, with all their progenies, lay before him in a maze of entanglement which it would be his business to unravel.

From Birds of Prey by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon

"Why are the poor hungry?—Why do not your flocks and herds multiply and increase?—Why do ye maltreat the sire and kill the mother of many progenies."

From Another World Fragments from the Star City of Montalluyah by Benjamin Lumley

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