Wiktionary

breed

See also: Breed

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English breden, from Old English brēdan, from Proto-Germanic *brōdijaną (“to brood”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreh₁- (“warm”). Cognate with Scots brede, breid, Saterland Frisian briede, West Frisian briede, Dutch broeden, German Low German bröden, German brüten.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /bɹiːd/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -iːd

Verb

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breed (third-person singular simple present breeds, present participle breeding, simple past and past participle bred)

  1. To produce offspring sexually; to bear young.
    • 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
      Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.
  2. (transitive) To give birth to; to be the native place of.
    A pond breeds fish.
    A northern country breeds stout men.
  3. Of animals, to mate.
  4. To keep animals and have them reproduce in a way that improves the next generation’s qualities.
  5. To arrange the mating of specific animals.
    She wanted to breed her cow to the neighbor's registered bull.
  6. To propagate or grow plants trying to give them certain qualities.
    He tries to breed blue roses.
  7. To take care of in infancy and through childhood; to bring up.
    • a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer’s Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 437:
      Ah wretched me! by fates averſe, decreed, / To bring thee forth with pain, with care to breed!
    • 1859, Edward Everett, An Oration on the Occasion of the Dedication of the Statue of Mr. Webster:
      born and bred on the verge of the wilderness
  8. To yield or result in.
    disaster breeds famine
    familiarity breeds contempt
  9. (obsolete, intransitive) To be formed in the parent or dam; to be generated, or to grow, like young before birth.
  10. (sometimes as breed up) To educate; to instruct; to bring up
    • a. 1716 (date written), [Gilbert] Burnet, edited by [Gilbert Burnet Jr.], Bishop Burnet’s History of His Own Time. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] Thomas Ward […], published 1724, →OCLC:
      No care was taken to breed him a Protestant.
    • 1691, [John Locke], Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money. […], London: […] Awnsham and John Churchill, […], published 1692, →OCLC:
      His farm may not […] remove his children too far from him, or the trade he breeds them up in.
  11. To produce or obtain by any natural process.
  12. (intransitive) To have birth; to be produced, developed or multiplied.
  13. (transitive, slang, vulgar) To ejaculate inside; to attempt to impregnate.
    • 2018, Cassandra Dee, Paying My Boyfriend's Debt: A Billionaire Bad Boy Romance, Cassandra Dee Romance via PublishDrive
      “God, I love your ass,” he says, his voice almost a growl. “I'm gonna breed this ass tonight.”
    • 2015, David Holly, The Heart's Eternal Desire, Bold Strokes Books Inc, →ISBN:
      “ Yes,” I said. “You want to fuck me, and I submit to you. My body is yours. Stuff me. Fill me. Breed my ass. Seed me, my love.
    • year unknown, Tymber Dalton, Disorder in the House [Suncoast Society], Siren-BookStrand (→ISBN), page 32:
      “Then...you get...bred.”
    • 2017, Casper Graham, Same Script, Different Cast [Scripts & Lyrics Trilogy], Siren-BookStrand, →ISBN, page 41:
      “I can't...can't last, baby.” / “I don't care. Come inside me. Breed me.”
    • 2017, Casper Graham, Nothing Short of a Miracle [Scripts & Lyrics Trilogy], Siren-BookStrand, →ISBN, page 19:
      "Are you clean?" he asked. / "Yeah, I get tested recently." / "Perfect. Breed me.”

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

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breed (plural breeds)

  1. All animals or plants of the same species or subspecies.
    a breed of tulip
    a breed of animal
  2. A race or lineage; offspring or issue.
  3. (informal) A group of people with shared characteristics.
    People who were taught classical Greek and Latin at school are a dying breed.
  4. (derogatory) Ellipsis of half-breed.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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Afrikaans

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Etymology

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From Dutch breed, from Middle Dutch brêet, from Old Dutch *brēd, from Proto-West Germanic *braid.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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breed (attributive breë, comparative breër, superlative breedste)

  1. broad

Dutch

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Etymology

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From Middle Dutch brêet, from Old Dutch *brēd, from Proto-West Germanic *braid, from Proto-Germanic *braidaz.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /breːt/, [breːt], [breɪ̯t], [bʀ-]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: breed
  • Rhymes: -eːt

Adjective

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breed (comparative breder, superlative breedst)

  1. broad, wide
    Antonyms: nauw, smal
  2. large, ample

Declension

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Declension of breed
uninflected breed
inflected brede
comparative breder
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial breed breder het breedst
het breedste
indefinite m./f. sing. brede bredere breedste
n. sing. breed breder breedste
plural brede bredere breedste
definite brede bredere breedste
partitive breeds breders —

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Afrikaans: breed
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: brete
  • Negerhollands: breed
  • → Caribbean Javanese: bradi (via Sranan Tongo)
  • → West Frisian: breed

Anagrams

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Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Noun

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breed

  1. Alternative form of brede (“breadth”)

Etymology 2

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Noun

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breed

  1. Alternative form of bred (“bread”)

Saterland Frisian

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Etymology

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From Old Frisian brēd, from Proto-West Germanic *braid. Cognates include West Frisian brie and German breit.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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breed (masculine breeden, feminine, plural or definite breede, comparative brader, superlative breedst, braadst)

  1. wide

Antonyms

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  • (antonym(s) of “wide”): smäl

References

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  • Marron C. Fort (2015) “breed”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

West Frisian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Dutch breed, displacing older brie.

Adjective

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breed

  1. broad, wide

Inflection

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Inflection of breed
uninflected breed
inflected brede
comparative breder
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial breed breder it breedst
it breedste
indefinite c. sing. brede bredere breedste
n. sing. breed breder breedste
plural brede bredere breedste
definite brede bredere breedste
partitive breeds breders —

Derived terms

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Further reading

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  • “breed”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

Yola

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Etymology

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From Middle English breed, from Old English brēad, from Proto-Germanic *braudą. Cognates include English bread and Scots breid.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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breed [1]

  1. bread
    • 1927, “PAUDEEN FOUGHLAAN'S WEDDEEN”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 133, lines 9[2]:
      Thar was bacoon and gubbages, breed and kippeens,
      There was bacon and cabbages, bread and kippins,

References

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  1. ^ Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 28
  2. ^ Kathleen A. Browne (1927) The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Sixth Series, Vol.17 No.2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
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