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.