progeny

noun

prog·​e·​ny ˈprä-jə-nē 

plural progenies

1

a

: descendants, children

b

: offspring of animals or plants

2

: outcome, product

3

: a body of followers, disciples, or successors

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The Lineage of Progeny

Progeny is the progeny of the Latin verb prōgignere, meaning "to beget." That Latin word is itself an offspring of the prefix pro-, meaning "forth," and gignere, which can mean "to beget" or "to bring forth." Gignere has produced a large family of English descendants, including benign (meaning "mild" or "harmless"), congenital (meaning "inherent"), engine, genius, germ, indigenous, ingenuous, and malign. Gignere even paired up with pro- again to produce a close relative of progeny: the noun progenitor can mean "an ancestor in the direct line," "a biologically ancestral form," or "a precursor or originator."

Synonyms

• fruit
• get
• issue
• offspring
• posterity
• seed
• spawn

Examples of progeny in a Sentence

Many Americans are the progeny of immigrants.

The small plants are the progeny of an oak tree.

Their work is the progeny of many earlier studies.

Recent Examples on the Web

Some images depict mothers as goddesses or warriors, ready to rise in righteous defense of their progeny. —Seyward Darby, Vogue, 3 May 2025

Over the past decade, cartel-forward films and TV shows—Narcos, Sicario, Breaking Bad, and their progeny—have permeated both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. —Antón Barba-Kay, The Atlantic, 26 Apr. 2025

Shortly after Stack realizes that the juke joint isn’t making enough money, Remmick shows up with his progeny. —Adam Serwer, The Atlantic, 2 May 2025

According to the Journal, Zilis lives at a gated compound in Texas where Musk intended all his progeny and their mothers to reside. —Kerry A. Dolan, Forbes.com, 18 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English progenie, borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin prōgeniēs, from prōgen-, variant stem of prōgignere "to produce as offspring, bring into being" + -iēs, deverbal and denominal noun suffix — more at progenitor

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for progeny

• androgyny
• ontogeny
• orogeny
• phylogeny

Kids Definition

progeny

noun

prog·​e·​ny ˈpräj-(ə-)-nē 

plural progenies

1

: human descendants : children

2

: offspring of animals or plants

Medical Definition

progeny

noun

prog·​e·​ny ˈpräj-(ə-)nē 

plural progenies

: offspring of animals or plants