engender Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb call forth
    spawn; breed.
  2. verb make children
    sire; get; father; mother; bring forth; beget; generate.
    • Abraham begot Isaac
    • Men often father children but don't recognize them

WordNet

En*gen"der transitive verb
Etymology
F. engender, L. ingenerare; in + generare to beget. See Generate, and cf. Ingenerate.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Engendered ; present participle & verbal noun Engendering
Definitions
  1. To produce by the union of the sexes; to beget. R.
  2. To cause to exist; to bring forth; to produce; to sow the seeds of; as, angry words engender strife.
    Engendering friendship in all parts of the common wealth. Southey.
    Syn. -- To breed; generate; procreate; propagate; occasion; call forth; cause; excite; develop.
En*gen"der intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To assume form; to come into existence; to be caused or produced.
    Thick clouds are spread, and storms engender there. Dryden.
  2. To come together; to meet, as in sexual embrace. "I saw their mouths engender." Massinger.
En*gen"der noun
Definitions
  1. One who, or that which, engenders.

Webster 1913