spawn

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
spawn/spɔːn/

▶verb

• 1 (of a fish, frog, mollusc, etc.) release or deposit eggs.

  ■ chiefly derogatory (of a person) produce (offspring).

• 2 produce or generate; give rise to.

▶noun

• 1 the eggs of fish, frogs, etc.

• 2 chiefly derogatory offspring.

• 3 the mycelium of a fungus, especially a cultivated mushroom.

– derivatives
spawner noun.

– origin ME: shortening of Anglo-Norman Fr. espaundre ‘to shed roe’, var. of OFr. espandre ‘pour out’.