English
beget
Beget comes from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- ‘to find’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰed-‘to find’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500begeten
- Englishearliest quotation 1611beget
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰed-‘to find’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500begeten
- Englishearliest quotation 1611beget
Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “¶ And Adam liued an hundred and thirtie yeeres,…”
Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi ‘at, near’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi
Proto-Germanic *bi ‘near, by’
Proto-Germanic *bi-
Proto-West Germanic *bi-
English be-
Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- ‘to take, seize’
Proto-Germanic *getaną ‘to find; to acquire, get’
Old Norse geta ‘to get’
Middle English geten ‘to get’
English get
The story
From 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.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- ‘to find’
guess, yet, prison, surprise, prize, comprehensive, prey, predator, apprentice, comprehend, comprise, comprehension, apprehension, apprehensive, apprehend, reprehensible, predation, reprieve, impresario, impregnable, prehensile, 32 more
Today it means
verb To produce or bring forth (a child); to be a parent of; to father or sire.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- / beget