Spawn
/spɔn/noun
To produce or release offspring, young, or a new generation; also, to generate or cause something to appear.
Did you know?In Middle English, spawn referred specifically to the eggs or roe of fish and frogs, and that concrete image of life being released into water later powered its modern sense of generating new things.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*spe(i)-
“to spew, spit, or emit”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*spawną
“to spit out, emit”
Old English
OE
spawian
“to spew forth, emit”
Middle English
English
spawn
“fish or frog eggs; offspring”
Modern English
English
spawn
“to produce offspring or generate something”