Adjacent Words

Hereditary definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HERED'ITARY, a.
1. That has descended from an ancestor. He is in possession of a large hereditary estate.
2. That may descend from an ancestor to an heir; descendible to an heir at law. The crown of Great Britain is hereditary.
3. That is or may be transmitted from a parent to a child; as hereditary pride; hereditary bravery; hereditary disease.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: occurring among members of a family usually by heredity; "an inherited disease"; "familial traits"; "genetically transmitted features" [syn: familial, genetic, hereditary, inherited, transmitted, transmissible]
2: inherited or inheritable by established rules (usually legal rules) of descent; "ancestral home"; "ancestral lore"; "hereditary monarchy"; "patrimonial estate"; "transmissible tradition" [syn: ancestral, hereditary, patrimonial, transmissible]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English hereditarie, from Latin hereditarius, from hereditas Date: 15th century 1. a. genetically transmitted or transmittable from parent to offspring b. characteristic of or fostered by one's predecessors 2. a. received or passing by inheritance or required to pass by inheritance or by reason of birth b. having title or possession through inheritance or by reason of birth 3. of a kind established by tradition <hereditary enemies> 4. of or relating to inheritance or heredity Synonyms: see innate • hereditarily adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 (of disease, instinct, etc.) able to be passed down from one generation to another. 2 a descending by inheritance. b holding a position by inheritance. 3 the same as or resembling what one's parents had (a hereditary hatred). 4 of or relating to inheritance. Derivatives: hereditarily adv. hereditariness n. Etymology: L hereditarius (as HEREDITY)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hereditary He*red"i*ta*ry, a. [L. hereditarius, fr. hereditas heirship, inheritance, fr. heres heir: cf. F. h['e]r['e]ditaire. See Heir.] 1. Descended, or capable of descending, from an ancestor to an heir at law; received or passing by inheritance, or that must pass by inheritance; as, an hereditary estate or crown. 2. Transmitted, or capable of being transmitted, as a constitutional quality or condition from a parent to a child; as, hereditary pride, bravery, disease. Syn: Ancestral; patrimonial; inheritable.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. A hereditary characteristic or illness is passed on to a child from its parents before it is born. In men, hair loss is hereditary. ADJ 2. A title or position in society that is hereditary is one that is passed on as a right from parent to child. ...the position of the head of state is hereditary... ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Ancestral, patrimonial, by inheritance. 2. Inherited, transmitted (from ancestors).

Moby Thesaurus

ancestral, atavistic, bequeathed, bodily, born, coeval, congenital, connatal, connate, connatural, constitutional, genetic, genic, handed down, heritable, in the blood, inborn, inbred, incarnate, indigenous, inheritable, inherited, innate, instinctive, instinctual, matroclinous, native, native to, natural, natural to, organic, patrimonial, patroclinous, physical, plasmatic, plasmic, primal, protoplasmic, temperamental, traditional, transferable, transmissible, willed