beget

views updated May 23 2018

be·get / biˈget/ • v. (-get·ting; past -got / -ˈgat/ ; past part. -got·ten) [tr.] poetic/lit. 1. (typically of a man, sometimes of a man and a woman) bring (a child) into existence by the process of reproduction: they hoped that the King might beget an heir by his new queen.2. give rise to; bring about: success begets further success.DERIVATIVES: be·get·ter n.

beget

views updated May 21 2018

beget pt. begot, arch. begat, pp. begotten †acquire XII; procreate XIII. First in north. texts with g repl. ġ, ʒ of the native forms OE. beġietan, ME. biʒete, corr. to OS. bigetan seize, OHG. pigezzan receive, Goth. bigitan find; see BE-, GET (XIII in the sense ‘procreate’, after ON. geta).

More From encyclopedia.com