begotten
/bɪˈɡɒt.ən/
begotten is the past participle 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)
- 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.
- To cause; to produce; to bring forth.
- Wealth begets wealth; poverty begets poverty.
- Synonyms:
- breed
- 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...
- To happen to; befall.
Adjective
begotten (not comparable)
- Brought into being by one's begetter(s).
- ¶ For God so loued þe world, that he gaue his only begotten Sonne: that whosoeuer beleeueth in him, should not perish, but haue euerlasting life.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 3:16
Words formed from begotten
Words that rhyme with begotten
Questions about begotten
- What does begotten mean?
- Begotten means brought into being by one's begetter(s).
- What is begotten the past participle of?
- Begotten is the past participle of beget.
- What part of speech is begotten?
- Begotten is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce begotten?
- Begotten is pronounced /bɪˈɡɒt.ən/ (UK).
Words near begotten in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: begotten (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-begotten.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-begotten.wav.
Cite this entry: “begotten.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/begotten. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
