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Webster 1913 Edition


Hereditary

He-red′i-ta-ry

,
Adj.
[L.
hereditarius
, fr.
hereditas
heirship, inheritance, fr.
heres
heir: cf. F.
héréditaire
. 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
.
Syn. – Ancestral; patrimonial; inheritable.

Webster 1828 Edition


Hereditary

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.

Definition 2024


hereditary

hereditary

English

Adjective

hereditary (comparative more hereditary, superlative most hereditary)

  1. Passed on as an inheritance, by last will or intestate.
  2. Of a title, honor or right: legally granted to somebody's descendant after that person's death.
    Duke is a hereditary title which was created in Norman times.
  3. Of a person: holding a legally hereditary title or rank.
    hereditary rulers
  4. Of a disease or trait: passed from a parent to offspring in the genes
    Haemophilia is hereditary in his family.
  5. (mathematics) Of a ring: such that all submodules of projective modules over the ring are also projective.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

hereditary (plural hereditaries)

  1. A hereditary ruler; a hereditary peer in the House of Lords.

See also