Engender Meaning
/ɪnˈdʒɛn.də/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo beget (of a man); to bear or conceive (of a woman).
verbTo give existence to, to produce (living creatures).
Sentence Examples
The policy aimed to engender trust.
The speech was meant to engender hope.
The manager's positive attitude helped to engender trust among the team.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new company policy may ____ resentment among the employees.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We hope the new policy will ____ a sense of unity among residents.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English engendren, from Old French engendrer, from Latin ingenerāre.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"O Error ſoone conceyu’d,
Thou neuer com’ſt vnto a happy byrth,
But kil’ſt the Mother that engendred thee."
— 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 129, column 1:
"Like all interesting literary figures, he is full of tacit as well as of uttered reference to the conditions that engendered him[…]."
— 1891, Henry James, “James Russell Lowell”, in Essays in London and Elsewhere, page 60:
"ME thinkes vertue is another manner of thing, and much more noble than the inclinations vnto goodneſſe, which in vs are ingendered."
— 1603, Michel de Montaigne, “Of Crueltie”, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 243:
"Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart managed to engender "Better Be Good to Me" and "I Must Love You," but they were neither lyrically nor musically up to standards of their Garrick Gaieties or A Connecticut Yankee."
— 1928 October 8, “New Plays in Manhattan”, in Time:
"Manufacturing is not simply about brute or emergency economics. It's also about a sense of involvement and achievement engendered by shaping and crafting useful, interesting, well-designed things."
— 2009 December 21, Jonathan Glancey, “The art of industry”, in The Guardian:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new company policy may ____ resentment among the employees.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We hope the new policy will ____ a sense of unity among residents.