engendrure

Middle English

Alternative forms

• engendure

Etymology

Old French engendreüre, from engendrer (“to engender”).

Noun

engendrure (plural engendrures)

1. The act of generation.
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Wyfe of Bathes Prologue”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, folio xxxvii, recto:

     So that the clerkes be nat with me wroth
     I ſaye that they were maked for bothe
     This is to ſeyn, for offyce and for ease
     Of engendrure, there we nat god diſpleaſe

     So that the clerks be not with me wrathful
     I say that they [genitals] were made for both
     This is to say, for duty and for ease
     Of reproduction, that we not God displease

Related terms

• engendren

References

• “engendrure”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.