Words / C1

OFSPR-ing/ˈɒfsprɪŋ/

Offspring are a person’s or animal’s young (formal or scientific): the offspring of, leave offspring. Child and children are everyday; descendant is longer-term. The plural is usually offspring, not offsprings. Do not use it of a spin-off company unless you are being jokey.

Meaning

A person’s or animal’s child or children (formal or scientific; same form in the plural).

Examples

• “The study followed the offspring of night-shift workers for a decade.”
• “The cohort study followed the offspring of night-shift staff for ten years.”
• “Children is everyday; offspring is the biology/formal noun. Descendants can be generations later. Plural: offspring. A subsidiary is not offspring in a paper.”

Good to know

Children / young (formal or scientific). Everyday: children. Plural usually unchanged. Cousin: descendant (later generations). Not a company spin-off in serious prose.

Near in meaning

children

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