Word of the Day : June 20, 2021

progeny \PRAH-juh-nee\ noun

Definition

1 a : descendants, children

b : offspring of animals or plants

2 : outcome, product

3 : a body of followers, disciples, or successors

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."

Aired June 20, 2021

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