Definition of ENGENDER

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.

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 on the Web

Whatever happens from here Russia 2018 exceeded all my expectations both on and off the pitch and hopefully the good feeling engendered between Russia and the rest of the world this past month will stick around a fair bit longer. — SI.com, "90min World Cup Fan Diaries: From Russia With Love," 9 July 2018 And Flicker isn't the only one that hopes such discrimination -- engendered because the UAE has no diplomatic ties with Israel and doesn't recognize it as a state -- never occurs again. — Henry Young, CNN, "Israeli judoka Tal Flicker: 'Sport should overcome all the politics'," 24 Apr. 2018 The comfort is engendered by a long, 117-inch wheelbase, as well as the suspension design. — Al Haas, Philly.com, "With Atlas, Volkswagen offers roomy newcomer to the midsize crossover market | Al Haas," 7 May 2018 Some of Trump's favorite talking points — pulling out of the Paris climate accord, beginning the repeal of the Clean Power Plan — were engendered by Pruitt's EPA. — Dino Grandoni, Washington Post, "The Energy 202: How the Pruitt first-class flight story spun out of control," 14 Feb. 2018 In Binger his ambition engendered giggles and suggestions that the Bench boy manage his expectations. — Jon Wertheim, SI.com, "Johnny Bench Is Already a Hall-of-Famer, But He's Looking For a New Distinction," 5 July 2018 This narrow-angle V-6, buttoned to a six-speed, dual-clutch automatic, engenders 280 horsepower and 258 pounds/feet of torque, which is enough to get the GT from 0 to 60 in less than six seconds, which ain’t dawdling. — Al Haas, Philly.com, "Volkswagen offers a roomy 2018 Passat GT that's fun to play with," 31 May 2018 What engenders receptiveness in some and not others? — Thomas Harlander, Los Angeles Magazine, "Eddie Huang’s Immigrant-Focused Food Show Can’t Come Soon Enough," 20 June 2018 After all, who can engender the combination of opportunism and paranoia usually needed to start a business? — The Economist, "Can you teach entrepreneurship?," 7 June 2018

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.