beget

Meaning

Verb

• To father; to sire; to produce (a child).
• To cause; to produce.
• To bring forth.
• To happen to; befall.

Origin

• From Middle English begeten, biȝeten, from Old English beġietan ("to get, find, acquire, attain, receive, take, seize, happen, beget"), [influenced by Old Norse geta ("to get, to guess")] 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").