genero

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɡɛ.nɛ.roː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈd͡ʒɛː.ne.ro]^[1]

Forms

generō (present infinitive generāre, perfect active generāvī, supine generātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from genus “birth, descent, kind” with the verb suffix -ō.^[2][1][3] Etymonline traces ⟨genus⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to give birth, beget”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Ennius, of begetting.^[2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to beget, father, and in the passive participle to be descended from, as Cicero's generātus Herculis stirpe “sprung from the stock of Hercules”, and in Varro of both parents to produce offspring.^[2][6] From Cicero it meant to bring into being, create, as his “god created and furnished man”, of places to produce, and in Virgil to produce substances from the body.^[2][7] It also meant to engender emotions, and to originate by intellectual effort.^[2] Döderlein explains that creāre is to call into being by one's own power, gignere by procreation or birth, and generāre agrees with gignere only in procreation.^[8]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to beget, produce, create.^[9] English generate came about 1500 from its participle generātus, or as a back-formation from English generation.^[4]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of begetting.^[2][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of both parents.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of creating.^[2][7][5]
• c. 1500 – English generate is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To beget, father, (passive) to be descended from.^[2]
2. To produce offspring.^[2]
3. To bring into being, create, produce.^[2]
4. To produce from the body.^[2]
5. To engender emotions; to originate.^[2]

Word family

• aggenerō
• congenerō
• dēgenerō
• generābilis
• generāmen
• generascō
• generātim
• generātiō
• generātor
• generātrīx
• ingenerō
• prōgenerō

Related words

• genus
• gignō
• creō
• English generate
• English generation

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson