progeny

play

noun prog·e·ny \ˈprä-jə-nē\

Definition of progeny

plural

progenies

1a : descendants, childrenb : offspring of animals or plants
2 : outcome, product
3 : a body of followers, disciples, or successors

See progeny defined for English-language learners

See progeny defined for kids

progeny was our Word of the Day on 08/01/2008. Hear the podcast!

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 of progeny from the Web

The teenagers here are Gwen, Julia’s lanky and still-girlish 16-year-old, and Nathan, James’s charismatic and cocky 17-year-old progeny, who are now thrust together under one roof.

— hermione hoby, New York Times, "Muddling Their Way Through Love in a London Family Drama", 2 June 2017
The result of the 183 genetic analyses is a sprawling family tree of Zika viruses — all related, but each just a tiny bit different from its predecessors or its progeny.

— melissa healy, latimes.com, "What the DNA of the Zika virus tells scientists about its rapid spread", 25 May 2017
One observation meriting citation is that the ranks of prodigies are increasingly dominated by progeny of immigrants.

— WSJ, "America’s Got Immigrant Talent", 7 Mar. 2017
Human beings imagine and encounter the future most intensely through our own progeny, our flesh and blood.

— ross douthat, New York Times, "Sign Up for the Opinion Today Newsletter", 5 Nov. 2016
Naturally, local prosecutors and ambitious law 'n order politicians hate them to this day, and further despise one of Gideon's most conspicuous progeny, the office of the public defender.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "The Bill of Rights Is Hanging by a Thread", 22 Sep. 2016
The researchers found that no progeny inherited the virus from an infected mother.

— donald g. mcneil jr., New York Times, "All Donated Blood in U.S. Should Be Tested for Zika, F.D.A. Says AUG. 26, 2016", 29 Aug. 2016
For example, the progeny of Valentine Coleman and his Cherokee wife, Nancy Campbell, have held annual family reunions for several decades in Roswell, where the couple settled at least 180 years ago.

— ajc, "How well do you know the history of the Northside?", 3 June 2016
When the mosquitoes breed with ones that are susceptible to the disease, their progeny are shielded.

— nicholas casey, New York Times, "Short Answers to Hard Questions About Zika Virus", 15 Feb. 2016

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

Did You Know?

Progeny is the progeny of the Latin verb progignere, 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, which can mean "an ancestor in the direct line," "a biologically ancestral form," or "a precursor or originator."

Origin and Etymology of progeny

Middle English progenie, from Anglo-French, from Latin progenies, from progignere

First Known Use: 14th century

Other Genetics Terms

chimera, hermaphrodite, plasticity

PROGENY Defined for English Language Learners

progeny

play

noun

Definition of progeny for English Language Learners

: a person who comes from a particular parent or family : the child or descendant of someone
: the young of an animal or plant
: something that is the product of something else