/biˈɡɛt/, /bɪˈɡɛt/, /bəˈɡɛt/
OriginFrom Middle English begeten [influenced by Old Norse geta ("to get, to guess")], from Old English beġietan (“to get”), from Proto-Germanic *bigetaną (“to find, seize”), equivalent to be- + get. Cognate with Old Saxon bigetan (“to find, seize”), Old High German bigezan (“to gain, achieve, win, procure”).
- literary, transitiveTo produce or bring forth (a child); to be a parent of; to father or sire.
“The King intends to beget a child within the next five years.”
“¶ And Adam liued an hundred and thirtie yeeres, and begate a ſonne in his owne likeneſſe, after his image; and called his name Seth.”
“This ogress too was begotten of the blood of Cain, whose brood had been doomed forever to the icy floods and freezing waters of the earth.”
- literary, transitiveTo cause; to produce; to bring forth.
“Wealth begets wealth; poverty begets poverty.”
“How one’s thoughts will travel! and how quickly our wishes beget them!”
“In the same way that Old Europe’s coffeehouses begat insurance companies, he says, today’s political careers beget an unhealthy relationship with throat lozenges.”
- literary, obsolete, transitiveTo get or obtain.
“If there bee neuer a Seruant-monſter i' the Fayre, who can helpe it, he ſayes ; nor a neſt of Antiques ? Hee is loth to make Nature afraid in his Playes, like thoſe that beget Tales, Tempeſts, and ſuc”
- UK, dialectal, literary, transitiveTo happen to; befall.
Formsbegets(present, singular, third-person) · begetting(participle, present) · begot(past) · begat(archaic, past) · begotten(participle, past) · begot(participle, past, rare)