Offspring
/ˈɒf.sprɪŋ/noun
A person’s child or children; the young of a person, animal, or plant.
Did you know?The word is built from the old idea of something that has been “sprung off” a parent, and its first recorded uses in English could describe both children and the young of animals.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
ofspring
“offspring; descendants; progeny”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*ufrą sprenganą
“to spring up, burst forth”
Middle English
ME
offspring
“progeny; that which has sprung from a source”
Modern English
English
offspring
“a child or young of a person, animal, or plant”