begatten

German

Etymology

From Middle High German begaten (to reach, meet, join), from Old High German bigatōn. Equivalent to be- + Gatte (spouse”, originally “companion) + -en. The modern sense of the verb (17th c.) follows the semantic development of the noun. Not related with English beget.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bəˈɡatən/
  • Hyphenation: be‧gat‧ten
  • (file)

Verb

begatten (weak, third-person singular present begattet, past tense begattete, past participle begattet, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive, of a male animal) to mate [+accusative = with]
    Synonyms: bespringen, decken
  2. (reflexive, of animals) to copulate
    Synonym: sich paaren

Usage notes

  • Sometimes used of humans, but this is deliberately coarse or flippant.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

  • begatten” in Duden online
  • begatten” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.