engender

play

verb en·gen·der \ in-ˈjen-dər , en- \

Definition of engender

engendered; engendering play \in-ˈjen-d(ə-)riŋ, en-\

transitive verb

1 :beget, procreate

2 :to cause to exist or to develop :produce

policies that have engendered controversy

intransitive verb

:to assume form :originate

See engender defined for English-language learners

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engender was our Word of the Day on 06/13/2017. Hear the podcast!

Examples of engender in a Sentence

The issue has engendered a considerable amount of debate.
a suggestion to go out for pizza that didn't seem to engender any interest

Recent Examples of engender from the Web

Regardless, scheduling didn’t engender the same kind of vitriolic reaction as team selections.

— george schroeder, USA TODAY, "What's next for the Playoff? No change anytime soon — staying at four teams," 24 Aug. 2017
This is the Crete of imagination, materializing from the prehistoric stones and engendered by the warmth and welcome of a people.

— jon maksik, CNT, "The Quieter Side of Crete," 12 Aug. 2017
And if his reform fails, the confidence he’s engendered among investors may dissipate.

— angeline benoit, Bloomberg.com, "Macron Vows Millionaire Minister Will Cut Worker Protection," 3 Aug. 2017
These were the kinds of mistakes that Gates seemingly never made, but knew how to exploit and even engender in others.

— jimmy maher, Ars Technica, "The complete history of the IBM PC, part two: The DOS empire strikes," 31 July 2017
For some readers, the sense of personal nostalgia engendered by this book is piercing.

— michael lindgren, The Seattle Times, "‘The Card Catalog’: New book reminds readers of a vanished world," 23 July 2017
Yet somehow those imperfections have engendered, if not a fondness, then at least a familiarity with my own features in a way long hair never could.

— claire landsbaum, The Cut, "What to Expect When You Buzz Off All Your Hair," 17 July 2017
What makes the Sheriff’s Department so detached from the anxiety these sorts of shootings engender?

— logan jenkins, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Sheriff shops in slow motion for body cameras," 15 July 2017
It was painted as hypocritical, given Bernie Sanders' penchant for railing against the income inequality engendered by Wall Street tycoons, for whom questionably large payouts are routine.

— chris cillizza, CNN, "How much trouble is Jane Sanders actually in?," 29 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'engender.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

When "engender" was first used in the 14th century, it meant "propagate" or "procreate," but extended meanings soon developed. "Engender" comes from the Latin verb generare, which means "to generate" or "to beget." "Generate," "regenerate," "degenerate," and "generation" are of course related to the Latin verb as well. As you might suspect, the list of "engender" relatives does not end there. "Generare" comes from the Latin noun genus, meaning "birth," "race," or "kind." From this source we have our own word genus, plus "gender," "general," and "generic," among other words.