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Webster 1913 Edition


Pedigree

Ped′i-gree

(pĕd′ĭ-grē)
,
Noun.
[Of unknown origin; possibly fr. F.
par degrés
by degrees, – for a pedigree is properly a genealogical table which records the relationship of families
by degrees
; or, perh., fr. F.
pied de grue
crane’s foot, from the shape of the heraldic genealogical trees.]
1.
A line of ancestors; descent; lineage; genealogy; a register or record of a line of ancestors.
Alterations of surnames . . . have obscured the truth of our
pedigrees
.
Camden.
His vanity labored to contrive us a
pedigree
.
Milton.
I am no herald to inquire of men's
pedigrees
.
Sir P. Sidney.
The Jews preserved the
pedigrees
of their tribes.
Atterbury.
2.
(Stock Breeding)
A record of the lineage or strain of an animal, as of a horse.

Webster 1828 Edition


Pedigree

PED'IGREE

,
Noun.
[probably from L. pes,pedis, foot.]
1.
Lineage; line of ancestors from which a person or tribe descends; genealogy.
Alterations of surnames--have obscured the truth of our pedigrees.
2.
An account or register of a line of ancestors.
The Jews preserved the pedigrees of their several tribes.

Definition 2024


pedigree

pedigree

See also: pédigrée

English

Noun

pedigree (countable and uncountable, plural pedigrees)

  1. A chart, list, or record of ancestors, to show breeding, especially distinguished breeding. [from 15th c.]
  2. A person's ancestral history; ancestry, lineage. [from 15th c.]
  3. (uncountable) Good breeding or ancestry. [from 15th c.]
  4. The history or provenance of an idea, custom etc. [from 16th c.]
    • 2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The Origins of Sex, Penguin 2013, p. 33:
      This connection between sexual and spiritual impurity had an immense pedigree.
  5. The ancestry of a domesticated animal, especially a dog or horse. [from 17th c.]

Translations

Adjective

pedigree (comparative more pedigree, superlative most pedigree)

  1. Having a pedigree.
  2. Purebred.

See also


Portuguese

Noun

pedigree m (plural pedigrees)

  1. pedigree (chart of ancestors, showing the breed of an animal)

Adjective

pedigree (plural pedigree, comparable)

  1. purebred; pedigree