offspring
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offspring
- /ˈɒfspɹɪŋ/ UK
- /ˈɔfspɹɪŋ/ US
- /ˈɑfspɹɪŋ/ US
Rhymes with -ɒfspɹɪŋ, -ɔfspɹɪŋ, -ɑfspɹɪŋ
Where it comes from
From Middle English ofspring, from Old English ofspring (“offspring, descendants, posterity”), equivalent to off- + spring. Compare Icelandic afspringur (“offspring”). More at off, spring.
noun offspring · offsprings
- A person's daughter or son; a person's child. We are the offspring of Italian immigrants.
- Any of a person's descendants, including of further generations.
- An animal or plant's progeny or young. In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.
- Anything produced; the result of an entity's efforts. Artists often treasure their works as their immortal offspring.
- A process launched by another process.
