offspring

noun

off·​spring ˈȯf-ˌspriŋ 

plural offspring also offsprings

1

a

: the product of the reproductive processes of a person, animal, or plant : young, progeny

The disease can be transmitted from parent to offspring.

b

: the immediate descendant of a person or animal : an individual born of a parent

gave birth to a single offspring

"… He was becoming irascible as well, impatient—with me especially, because I was his only offspring [=child]. …"

—Anthony Hopkins

2

a

: product, result

… scholarly manuscripts—the labored offsprings of PhDs …

—Donna Martin

… the substitution of the typewriter and its offspring for the author's own hand.

—Jacques Barzun

b

: offshoot sense 1a

… you can hear this Caribbean club music, a hard-edged and party-heavy offspring of reggae …

—Lorraine Ali

Synonyms

• fruit
• progeny
• seed
• child
• family
• posterity

Examples of offspring in a Sentence

The show is about two couples and the adventures of their rebellious offspring.

The colt is the offspring of two racing champions.

Recent Examples on the Web

But for all its stylistic brio and an overall mesmerizing look, in which even throwaway visuals (like the icy corpse of a solider frozen to his battlefield steed) sear themselves into your memory, Frankenstein remains the simple, direct story of a man and his nonbiological offspring. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 Sep. 2025

And the fact that Lucian had so many offspring, Bella told me, can be explained, at least to some extent, by his youthful partners’ intentionality. —Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025

Fifth graders learned about genetics by building dinosaurs and their offspring with Lego blocks, identifying shared traits. —Jason Ma, Fortune, 7 Sep. 2025

Essentially, fewer resources available to a species – particularly, food – results in lower energy uptake, so as well as fewer offspring, body size will also continue to shrink. —New Atlas, 7 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ofspring, from Old English, from of off + springan to spring

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for offspring

• bowstring
• coiling
• downswing
• drawstring
• forewing
• hamstring
• lapwing
• mainspring
• plaything
• shoestring
• texting
• upswing

Kids Definition

offspring

noun

off·​spring ˈȯf-ˌspriŋ 

plural offspring also offsprings

: the young of a person, animal, or plant

Medical Definition

offspring

noun

off·​spring ˈȯf-ˌspriŋ 

plural offspring also offsprings

: the progeny of an animal or plant : young