Spawn

Spawn is a term with several related meanings in biology, technology, and culture. In biology, spawn refers to the eggs and reproductive material released by aquatic animals, especially fish and amphibians. The term also denotes the mass of eggs itself, often covered in jelly, that the parent releases into the environment.

In aquatic ecology, spawning is the reproductive event in which eggs and sperm are released into the water. Many species synchronize spawning with seasonal cues such as temperature, photoperiod, or tides. Fertilization is external in most fish and amphibians, with development proceeding in the surrounding aquatic environment.

In gaming and popular culture, spawn describes the appearance of a character, monster, item, or other entity within a game world. Spawn points are designated locations where entities can appear, and spawn mechanics govern the timing and number of new units, including concepts such as respawning and spawn camping.

In computing, to spawn means to create a new process or thread. Operating systems expose APIs such as POSIX spawn and Windows CreateProcess to start a separate program. Spawn is often contrasted with fork in Unix-like systems; many languages also provide spawn-like facilities for concurrency or parallelism.

Etymology and usage: The word originates in English to describe offspring or eggs, particularly of fish, and has broadened to metaphorical uses in technology and culture.