beget
/biˈɡɛt/verb
beget is spelled B-E-G-E-T: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,074th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, beget means “To produce or bring forth (a child); to be a parent of; to father or sire” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in beget?
| Letters | 5: B-E-G-E-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 60,074th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is beget?
Beget appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,074th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce beget?
- US /biˈɡɛt/
- US /bɪˈɡɛt/
- US /bəˈɡɛt/
Beget has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-beget.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with beget?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as beget from its last stressed vowel (/ɛt/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of beget
- begets present, singular, he/she/it
- begetting participle, present
- begot past, participle, rare
- begotten participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does beget mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To produce or bring forth (a child); to be a parent of; to father or sire.
The King intends to beget a child within the next five years.
- 2
To cause; to produce; to bring forth.
Wealth begets wealth; poverty begets poverty.
- 3
obsoleteTo get or obtain.
- 4
UKTo happen to; befall.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Beget in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | engendrer , procréer |
| German | erzeugen , zeugen, sich fortpflanzen |
| Portuguese | engendrar, gerar , ter filho, procriar |
| Spanish | engendrar , concebir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does beget come from?
From Middle English begeten [influenced by Old Norse geta ("to get, to guess")], from Old English beġietan (“to get”), from Proto-Germanic *bigetaną (“to find, seize”), equivalent to be- + get. Cognate with Old Saxon bigetan (“to find, seize”), Old High German bigezan (“to gain, achieve, win, procure”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).