▪ I. breeding, vbl. n.
(ˈbriːdɪŋ)
[f. breed v. + -ing1.]
1. a. Bringing to the birth; hatching; production of young. breeding of teeth: dentition (obs.).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 3479 Hir breding was ful selcut sare, Bot hir chiltting was mikel mare. 1387 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. ii. (1495) 600 Grete bredynge of beestis is in suche places. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 49 Bredynge, or brodynge..of birdys. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 635 For bredynge To set an hen on eyron ix is goode. 1544 Phaër Regim. Lyfe (1560) S v b, Breedyng of teeth. 1712 Lond. Gaz. No. 4976/2 Illness..occasioned by the breeding of his Teeth. 1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 378/2 The breeding and fattening of cattle. |
† b. Hence (vulgarly), extraction, parentage.
Obs.| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. iii. 111, I know not your breeding. 1606 Day Isle of Guls iv. 1 Lis. What breeding hast had? Man. Very good breeding, sir; my great grandfather was a ratcatcher, my grandsire a hangman. |
c. Nuclear Engin. The production of fissile material.
Cf. breed v. 6 c.
| 1947 G. Gamow One Two Three vii. 184 The favorable and unfavorable conditions for neutron breeding. 1956 A. H. Compton Atomic Quest 324 A breeding reactor. Ibid., The process by which all the uranium and thorium is made available as fission fuel is known as ‘breeding’. |
2. fig. Origination, production, development.
| 1549 Queen Elizabeth in Ellis Orig. Lett. i. 166 II. 157 That shulde be but a bridinge of a ivel wil of the people. 1587 Golding De Mornay xxvii. 426 The breeding of Kingdomes and Principalities. 1625 Ussher Answ. Jesuit 400 The breedings of this disease. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 62 The heat which was in fermentation whilst they [Minerals] were yet in breeding. |
3. The rearing and training of the young; bringing up: formerly in sense of ‘education’.
| 1577 Hellowes tr. Gueuara's Chron. 91 For y⊇ breeding of children..and the marriage of Orphans. 1653 Milton Hirelings Wks. (1851) 381 [They] have had the most of thir breeding, both at School and University, by Scholarships. a 1704 T. Brown Declam. Adv. Wks. 1730 I. 42 You had never very good breeding thus to laugh at my ingenuity. 1777 Sheridan Trip Scarb. i. i, She has her breeding within doors: the parson teaches her to play upon the dulcimer. 1859 Mill Liberty ii. 48 His Stoical breeding. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. I. ii. 61 Royal birth and breeding. |
4. The results of training as shown in personal manners and behaviour; generally used for ‘good breeding’, good or proper manners.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. vii. 33 In graces, and in qualities of breeding. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. (1675) Pref. 14 As I fancy'd persons, of their Breeding and tempers, would talk to one another. 1689 Shadwell Bury F. i. i. 122 It out does St. James Square in dressing and breeding. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 21 ¶2 The Height of good Breeding. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. i. §12 Mind what men of parts and breeding say. 1771 Goldsm. Hist. Eng. in Lett. III. 142 This romantic message, which was quite in the breeding of the times. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey vii. vi. 421 Her ignorance of all breeding is amusing. 1870 Grant White Words & Uses (1881) 62 That tone of voice which indicates breeding rather than education, etc. |
5. attrib., as in
breeding-cage,
breeding-dress,
breeding-ground (also
fig.),
breeding-habit,
breeding-hole,
breeding-place,
breeding plumage,
breeding-pond,
breeding range,
breeding-season,
breeding station,
breeding-stock,
breeding storm,
breeding territory,
breeding-time, etc.
| 1936 British Birds XXIX. 234 In May numbers appear to be in full *breeding dress. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxi. 268 Ducks..seeking their *breeding-grounds. 1931 V. A. Demant This Unemployment i. 15 The atmosphere of acquiescence..is the most fruitful breeding-ground of practical atheism. |
| 1937 British Birds XXXI. 84 Observations concerning *breeding-habits. |
| 1841 in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. ix. 252 The favourite..*breeding-places of these birds. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes (1850) 118/1 A breeding-place of fever, ague, and death. |
| 1938 British Birds XXXII. 19 Mr. Blake caught it and noticed the *breeding plumage and oiled underparts. |
| 1789 White Selborne (1851) 70 The migration of frogs from their *breeding-ponds. |
| 1890 Stock Grower 1 Feb. 11/2 *Breeding range, on the Pecos River, New Mexico. 1920 E. Howard Territory in Bird Life ii. 44 The district..lies well within the limits of the breeding range of most of our common species. |
| a 1714 M. Henry Wks. I. 552 It may minister some comfort and relief to a pious mother, in *breeding-sickness. |
| 1920 E. Howard Territory in Bird Life 59 Guillemots and Razorbills return at intervals to the *breeding stations early in the season. |
| 1840 J. Morton in Rep. Sel. Farms (Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III) 17 The healthiness..of the stock, upon this farm..is a great inducement to keep a large *breeding-stock. |
| 1961 Guardian 21 Nov. 8/5 Man..has started a *breeding storm in his own species. |
| 1920 E. Howard Territory in Bird Life 26 The evolution of the *breeding territory may have been influenced by relationships in the inorganic world. |
| 1711 Addison Spect. No. 128 ¶3 Their Songs begin a little before *Breeding-time. |
▪ II. breeding, ppl. a. (
ˈbriːdɪŋ)
[f. breed v. + -ing2.] That breeds: see the verb.
| 1552 Huloet, Breding, or full of breadyng, fœtuosus. 1593 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 260 A breeding jennet, lusty, young, and proud. 1641 Milton Animadv. Wks. (1851) 195 The malignity of that breeding corruption. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 80 A breeding Mare. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 55 A breeding woman is worth from one-sixth to one-fourth more than one that does not breed. |
Hence
ˈbreedingness.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 132 The life..is but a frame or draught of springs, leavened into a breedingness. |