engender

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 14, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>engender</strong> &#149; \in-JEN-der\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><em>Engender</em> is a formal word that means “to produce; to cause to exist or to develop.” It is used especially when feelings and ideas are generated.</p> <p>// The annual company picnic featured activities, such as a scavenger hunt, meant to <em>engender</em> a sense of teamwork and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/camaraderie">camaraderie</a> among employees.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/engender">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“Student silence and compliance are often more comfortable and comforting for those who are invested in and benefit from the status quo, but it is truly anti-learning. ... Listening to students does not mean ‘giving in to students’ or treating students as customers. It’s a step toward fostering engagement and <em>engendering</em> responsibility. If we say we are listening, students are more likely to speak. We just have to be ready to absorb some things we might not want to hear.” — John Warner, <em>Inside Higher Ed</em>, 17 Oct. 2022</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>A good paragraph about <em>engender</em> will engender understanding in the reader. Like its synonym <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/generate"><em>generate</em></a>, <em>engender</em> comes from the Latin verb <em>generare</em>, meaning “to generate” or “to beget,” and when the word was first used in the 14th century, <em>engender</em> meant “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propagate">propagate</a>” or “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/procreate">procreate</a>.” That literal meaning having to do with creating offspring (which <em>generate</em> shared when it was