breeding

See also: Breeding

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbɹiːdɪŋ/
Rhymes: -iːdɪŋ
Audio (UK) (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle English breedyng, bredynge (“gestation, incubation, propagation, hatching; engineering, formation, development, growth”), equivalent to breed +‎ -ing.

Noun

breeding (countable and uncountable, plural breedings)

Propagation of offspring through sexual reproduction.
- 1950, Gunnar Thorson, “Reproductive and Larval Ecology of Marine Bottom Invertebrates”, in Biological Reviews, volume 25, number 1, pages 1–45:
  In analysing the ecological conditions of an animal population we have above all to focus our attention upon the most sensitive stages within the life cycle of the animal, that is, the period of breeding and larval development.
- 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 222:
  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.
The act of insemination by natural or artificial means.
The act of copulation in animals.
The good manners regarded as characteristic of the aristocracy and conferred by heredity.
Nurture; education; formation of manners.
- c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s VVell, that Ends VVell”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene iii]:
  She had her breeding at my father's charge.
Descent; pedigree; extraction.
Your dog has good breeding.
- c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene iii]:
  Honest gentlemen, I know not your breeding.
(gay slang) Ejaculation inside the rectum during bareback anal sex.

Derived terms

breeding ground
cross-breeding
inbreeding
line breeding
non-breeding
outbreeding
selective breeding

Translations

process through which propagation, growth or development occurs

Finnish: lisääntyminen (fi); kasvatus (fi)
French: élevage (fr)
Indonesian: pemuliaan (id)
Malay: pembiakbakaan
Malayalam: പ്രജനനം (ml) (prajananaṃ)
Russian: выра́щивание (ru) n (vyráščivanije) (rearing), разведе́ние (ru) n (razvedénije) (rearing), родосло́вная (ru) n (rodoslóvnaja) (pedigree)

act of inseminating by natural or artificial means

Finnish: siittäminen (fi), hedelmöittäminen (fi)
French: insémination (fr)
Maori: whakaaiaitanga
Russian: разведе́ние (ru) n (razvedénije) (rearing), размноже́ние (ru) n (razmnožénije) (propagation), осемене́ние (ru) n (osemenénije) (insemination)
Tagalog: palabinhian

copulation — see sexual intercourse

copulation of animals

Finnish: paritteleminen (fi)
French: copulation (fr)
Russian: копуля́ция (ru) f (kopuljácija), сноше́ние (ru) n (snošénije), совокупле́ние (ru) n (sovokuplénije), ко́итус (ru) m (kóitus)

good manners as characteristic of the aristocracy

Finnish: kasvatus (fi)
Maori: rangatiratanga (mi)
Russian: воспи́танность (ru) n (vospítannostʹ)

Etymology 2

From Middle English bredyng, bredynge, from Old English *brēdende, from Proto-Germanic *brōdijandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *brōdijaną (“to brood; breed”), equivalent to breed +‎ -ing.

Adjective

breeding (not comparable)

Of, relating to or used for breeding.
Your toothbrush is a breeding ground for bacteria.

Derived terms

breeding ground

Verb

breeding

present participle of breed
Through genetic manipulation and harsh training, I am breeding a species of super-dogs to take over the world.

Anagrams

beringed, bigender