Pa. t. begot, arch. begat. Pa. pple. begotten, formerly bi-, begeten, -get, begot. Forms as in GET. [Comm. Teut.: OE. beʓit-an = Goth. bi-gitan, f. bi- BE- + gitan to get. The normal form, from OE. beʓitan, would have been be-yet; for the substitution of be-get, see GET.]
† 1. trans. To get, to acquire (usually by effort).
a. 1000. Beowulf, 2297. Fin eft beʓeat sweord.
1154. O. E. Chron., an. 1137. [He] wæs wæl underfangen fram þe pape, and begæt þare priuilegies.
c. 1200. Ormin, 13986. Þærþurrh bigatt he þær att Crist Þurrh himm to wurrþenn borrȝhenn.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 196. Heo biȝited þe blisfule kempene crune.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4913. Ne haue we wit vs trussed noght, Bot … of our lele bi-geten [v.r. begityn] thing.
1393. Gower, Conf., I. 82. Whan he weneth most beȝete, Than is he shape most to lese.
1602. Shaks., Ham., III. ii. 8. You must acquire and beget a Temperance that may giue it Smoothnesse.
2. To procreate, to generate: usually said of the father, but sometimes of both parents.
c. 1205. Lay., 15792. Þus wes Mærlin biȝeten and iboren of his moder.
c. 1300. Beket, 119. Bituene hem biȝute was The gode child of wham we speketh.
1460. Capgrave, Chron., 15. The Sones of God … comouned with the Douteris of men … and thei begouin geauntis.
1611. Bible, Prov. xvii. 21. He that begetteth a foole, doth it to his sorrow.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 2, ¶ 5. He has good Blood in his Veins; Tom Mirabell begot him.
1788. J. Powell, Devises (1827), II. 205. Without having any children issue lawfully begotten or to be begotten.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 226. What could he have been thinking of when he begat such wise sons?
b. Const. on, upon, or upon the body of.
1297. R. Glouc., 516. Sire Morisse of Berkeleye wedded … Is doȝter, and biȝet on hire the kniȝt Sir Tomas.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Melib., ¶ 1. Melibeus … bigat vp on his wyf … a doghter.
1509–10. Act 1 Hen. VIII., xix. Pream., The heires males whiche he shulde begett on the body of the said Elizabeth.
1641. Hinde, J. Bruen, xxx. 92. [Wakes] are begotten of Sathan, upon the body of that Whore of Rome.
1742. Young, Nt. Th., IX. 447. Num’rous is the race Of blackest ills … Begot by madness on fair liberty.
† c. = GET (with child). Obs.
c. 1450. Knt. de la Tour, 6. That other knight … begate her with childe.
1603. Shaks., Meas. for M., V. i. 517. There’s one Whom he begot with childe.
1611. Coryat, Crudities, 101. For shee reported that shee was begotten with child by a certaine Dragon.
3. Theol. Applied to the relationship of the Father to the Son in the Trinity; also to the spiritual relationship of God to man in regeneration.
1388. Wyclif, 1 Peter i. 3. Which begat [1382 gendride, 1617 hath begotten] vs aȝen in to lyuyng hope.
1534. Tindale, 1 John v. 1. Every one that loveth him which begat [Wyclif gendred, 1611 begate], loveth him also which was begotten [W. borun] of him.
1549. Bk. Com. Pr., Athanas. Cr. The Son is of the Father alone: not made, nor created, but begotten.
1587. Golding, De Mornay, vi. 71. God … begate the Sonne or Word equall to himselfe.
4. fig. and transf. To call into being, give rise to; to produce, occasion.
1581. Lambarde, Eiren., II. ii. (1588), 124. The doing thereof doth also beget a forfeiture of the Recognusance that is made.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., II. i. 69. His eye begets occasion for his wit.
1675. Traherne, Chr. Ethics, vi. 71. Fire begets water by melting ice.
1691. Ray, Creation, II. (1704), 335. How can all these things … but beget Wonder?
1845. Miall, Nonconf., V. 133. One falsehood usually begets a necessity for a dozen others.
