engender

/enˈdʒendə/en-JEN-dur

/ɛnˈdʒɛndɚ/en-JEN-dur

Meaningto produce, generate

Common meaning: to cause

enin, intoSkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 191 · scan
genderbirth, descent, race; a typeLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 810 · scan

‘in, into’ + ‘birth, descent, race’ → engender

Journey through time

en — Latin in- “in, into” (path traced)
gender — Latin genus, generis “birth, descent, race; a type” (path traced)

Parts join in Latin as ingenerare.

Latinin- + generare‘in, into + birth, descent, race; a type’source
Latiningenerare‘to produce, generate’source
Middle Englishengendrensource
Englishmeaning shiftsto produce, generate → to causeengender‘to cause’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin ingenerare, which Skeat analyses as in- ‘in, into’ + generare ‘birth, descent, race; a type’.

Roots

genus, generis Latin “birth, descent, race; a type”
ingenerare Latin “to produce, generate”

Related words

carcinogen cryogenic degenerate genuine genus heterogeneous heterogeneously iatrogenic indigenous ingenious octogenarian parthenogenesis

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