the.com/breed

means A group of animals or plants deliberately bred to share specific inherited traits — or, as a verb, to produce offspring or to cultivate those traits over generations.

from From Old English 'bredan', meaning to nurture or keep warm, closely tied to brooding — literally what a bird does sitting on eggs. The word's root sense is incubation and care, not just reproduction; the meaning widened over time from 'hatch and raise' to 'propagate a line with chosen traits.' It's related to 'brood' and 'brood' is probably its closest cousin in the language.