'Reproduction' is Latin for 'leading forth again' — from 'pro-' (forward) + 'ducere' (to lead).
The process by which organisms produce offspring; also, the act of copying or recreating something, or a copy so made.
Formed in English from the prefix 're-' (again, back — from Latin 're-') + 'production,' from Latin 'productio' (a lengthening, a prolonging, a producing), from 'producere' (to lead forward, to bring forth, to extend), composed of 'pro-' (forward, forth) and 'ducere' (to lead, to draw, to guide). 'Ducere' descends from PIE *dewk- (to lead, to pull), which also gave English 'duct' (a channel for leading fluid), 'duke' (leader, from Latin 'dux'), 'educate' (to lead out, to develop), 'deduce' (to lead down from a premise), and 'introduce' (to lead into). The compound 'reproduce' appeared in English in the 17th century
The biological sense of 'reproduction' is surprisingly recent — it only became standard in the eighteenth century when naturalists needed a term for organisms generating offspring. Before that, the word meant simply 'producing again.' The Comte de Buffon, in his monumental 'Histoire Naturelle' (1749), was among the first to use 'reproduction' systematically for biological generation
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