offspring

noun

off·​spring ˈȯf-ˌspriŋ 

plural offspring also offsprings

1

a

: the product of the reproductive processes of a person, animal, or plant : young, progeny

The disease can be transmitted from parent to offspring.

b

: the immediate descendant of a person or animal : an individual born of a parent

gave birth to a single offspring

"… He was becoming irascible as well, impatient—with me especially, because I was his only offspring [=child]. …"

—Anthony Hopkins

2

a

: product, result

… scholarly manuscripts—the labored offsprings of PhDs …

—Donna Martin

… the substitution of the typewriter and its offspring for the author's own hand.

—Jacques Barzun

b

: offshoot sense 1a

… you can hear this Caribbean club music, a hard-edged and party-heavy offspring of reggae …

—Lorraine Ali

Synonyms

• fruit
• get
• issue
• posterity
• progeny
• seed
• spawn

Examples of offspring in a Sentence

The show is about two couples and the adventures of their rebellious offspring.

The colt is the offspring of two racing champions.

Recent Examples on the Web

In this study, a team used machine-learning methods to analyze recordings of 469 calls or ‘rumbles’ made by wild African elephant female–offspring groups in the Amboseli National Park and Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves in Kenya. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 25 Dec. 2024

Another was revealing the math that would show nature’s multiple fundamental forces to be just different offspring of one unified force. —Tom Siegfried, JSTOR Daily, 19 Dec. 2024

When looking just at Gen Z offspring, that figure shot up to $1,515. —Alex Harring, CNBC, 15 Dec. 2024

With honeybees, for example, some bees held off on reproducing their own offspring in order to support the hives’ young. —Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 13 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ofspring, from Old English, from of off + springan to spring

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

offspring

noun

off·​spring ˈȯf-ˌspriŋ 

plural offspring also offsprings

: the young of a person, animal, or plant

Medical Definition

offspring

noun

off·​spring ˈȯf-ˌspriŋ 

plural offspring also offsprings

: the progeny of an animal or plant : young