Begat

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /biˈɡæt/
• Rhymes: -æt

Verb

1. begat

   (simple past of beget)
• Authorized Version, Genesis 5:3And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
• Authorized Version, Matthew 1:2Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren
• , 2012-02-01, Kathy Gilbert, Pitching In, Rugby football was created in the early 1800s at England’s all-boys Rugby School. The sport begat American football, Gaelic football, Australian rules football and Association football (aka soccer).

Full definition of begat

Noun

1. (nonstandard) An element of a lineage, especially of a lineage given in the Bible
• 2000, Earl F. Lehman, The God Bu$ine$$, To put food on the table, Ruth gleaned in the fields and one of the fields belonged to Boaz who noticed her and admired her. They married and Ruth bore a son, Obed. There ensues a begat-ridden genealogy and....
• 2002, P. J. O'Rourke, The CEO of the Sofa, There's a bunch of begats in First Chronicles, chapter six, and it's way dull, especially if you consider what a begat involves.
• 2002, Geoffrey H. Hartman, The longest shadow: in the aftermath of the Holocaust, In many instances even that cannot be done," and John Edgar Wideman prefaces Damballah with "A Begat Chart" and a "Family Tree."

Usage notes

This is uncommon in the singular.