How to say "offspring" in Japanese

• 子孫しそんJLPT N2approx.Common
  nounCovers 'offspring' in the sense of descendants or progeny down the generations, often over long spans of time. Typical in genealogical, historical, or biological talk about a family line or species' descendants.
  合衆国がっしゅうこくは長ながい間あいだ「るつぼ」として知しられているが、それは国民こくみんのほとんどが移民いみんの子孫しそんだからである。↗

  The United States has long been known as a "melting pot" because most of its people are descended from immigrants.
• 子こJLPT N4approx.Common
  noun, noun (suffix)The ordinary word for one's own child; 'offspring' is only a gloss-like rendering of this sense. Use it when speaking of someone's children directly, not for remote descendants or lineage in the abstract.
• たねJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounFundamentally means 'seed', and 'offspring' is a marginal extension covering progeny or breed in breeding contexts. For people or animals it is not the usual word; say 子 or 子孫 instead.

Use 子孫 for descendants across generations, 子 for one's own child or young, and 「たね」 mainly for seeds or breeding stock, where 'offspring' is a secondary sense.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 子孫しそんdescendant
• 産子さんしoffspring (esp. livestock)
• 子種こだねchild
• 胤たねissue
• 子こ(one's) child
• たねprogeny
• 落とし子おとしごproduct (of e.g. war)
• 末すえdescendants