Word of the Day

: June 20, 2021

progeny

noun PRAH-juh-nee

What It Means

1 a : descendants, children

b : offspring of animals or plants

2 : outcome, product

3 : a body of followers, disciples, or successors

progeny in Context

The champion thoroughbred passed on his speed, endurance, and calm temperament to his progeny, many of whom became successful racehorses themselves.

"The plan … is to release millions of male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that have been genetically modified so that their female progeny can develop only if they are exposed to tetracycline, an antibiotic." — Gregory E. Kaebnick, The Miami Herald, 11 May 2021

Did You Know?

Progeny is the progeny of the Latin verb prōgignere, meaning "to beget." That Latin word is itself an offspring of the prefix pro-, meaning "forth," and gignere, which can mean "to beget" or "to bring forth." Gignere has produced a large family of English descendants, including benign (meaning "mild" or "harmless"), congenital (meaning "inherent"), engine, genius, germ, indigenous, ingenuous, and malign. Gignere even paired up with pro- again to produce a close relative of progeny: the noun progenitor can mean "an ancestor in the direct line," "a biologically ancestral form," or "a precursor or originator."