Word.ws English Dictionary

begets

begets is the third-person singular simple present indicative of beget.

Meaning of beget

Verb

beget (third-person singular simple present begets, present participle begetting, simple past begot or (archaic) begat, past participle begotten or (rare) begot)

  1. (literary, transitive) To 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.
  2. (transitive) To cause; to produce; to bring forth.
    • Wealth begets wealth; poverty begets poverty.
    Synonyms:
    breed
  3. (obsolete, transitive) To 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 ſuch like Drolleries, […]1614 November 10 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Beniamin Iohnson [i.e., Ben Jonson], Bartholmew Fayre: A Comedie, […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot, […], published 1631...
  4. (UK, dialectal, transitive) To happen to; befall.

Questions about begets

What is begets the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Begets is the third-person singular simple present indicative of beget.

Words near begets in the dictionary

  1. begemming
  2. begems
  3. begena
  4. begenas
  5. beget
  6. begets
  7. begettal
  8. begettals
  9. begetter
  10. begetters
  11. begettest

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: begets (page history and authors); beget (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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