Meanings
nounoffshoot (plural offshoots)
plural offshoots
- Something which shoots off or separates from a main stem or branch of a plant.
the offshoots of a tree
- Something which develops from something else.
an offshoot of a criminal organization
1 more example
The reason is that the Berks & Hants Railway Company, under the powers of which the line was built, also included the Reading-Basingstoke section. The company was an offshoot of the G.W.R., which absorbed it before any section was opened.
1945 September and October, “Notes and News: The "Berks & Hants" Line”, in Railway Magazine, page 299
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishoff-
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)kewd-
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)kéwdeti?
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)kewd-der.?
- Proto-Indo-European*sket-der.?
- Proto-Germanic*skuttōnąbf.?
- Proto-Germanic*skeutaną
- Proto-West Germanic*skeutan
- Old Englishsċēotan
- Middle Englishschoten
- Englishshoot
- Englishoffshoot
Translations
Ancient Greek παραφυάς
- παραφυάς (paraphuás)that which shoots off from a main stem
Bulgarian издънка, филиз
- издънка (izdănka)that which shoots off from a main stem
- филиз (filiz)that which shoots off from a main stem
- разклонение (razklonenie)that which develops from something else
Catalan rebrot, rebroll
- rebrotthat which shoots off from a main stem
- rebrollthat which shoots off from a main stem
- rellucthat which shoots off from a main stem
Chinese Mandarin 分枝, 分支
- 分枝 (fēnzhī)that which shoots off from a main stem
- 分支 (fēnzhī)that which develops from something else
- 衍生物 (yǎnshēngwù)that which develops from something else
- 支流 (zhīliú)that which develops from something else
- 旁系 (pángxì)that which develops from something else
Dutch zijtak, uitloper
- zijtakthat which shoots off from a main stem
- uitloperthat which develops from something else
Finnish sivuverso, rönsy
- sivuversothat which shoots off from a main stem
- rönsythat which develops from something else
- haarathat which develops from something else
French rejeton, dérivé
- rejetonthat which shoots off from a main stem
- dérivéthat which develops from something else
German Ableger, Ableger
- Ablegerthat which shoots off from a main stem
- Ablegerthat which develops from something else
Persian شاخه, اِنشِعاب
- شاخه (šâxe)that which shoots off from a main stem
- اِنشِعاب (enše'âb)that which develops from something else
Polish odgałęzienie, odnoga
- odgałęzieniethat which shoots off from a main stem
- odnogathat which shoots off from a main stem
- odgałęzieniethat which develops from something else
- odnogathat which develops from something else
Spanish vástago, rama
- vástagothat which shoots off from a main stem
- ramathat which develops from something else
- ramalthat which develops from something else
- ramificaciónthat which develops from something else
- derivadothat which develops from something else
- filialthat which develops from something else
Swedish avknoppning, skott
- avknoppningthat which shoots off from a main stem
- skottthat which shoots off from a main stem
- avknoppningthat which develops from something else
Ukrainian відгалуження
- відгалуження (vidhalužennja)that which develops from something else
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
offshoot. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/offshoot
MLA
“offshoot.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/offshoot. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “offshoot,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/offshoot.
Source: offshoot on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.