hereditary

[ huh-red-i-ter-ee ]

adjective

1. passing, or capable of passing, naturally from parent to offspring through the genes: Compare congenital.

   Blue eyes are hereditary in our family.

2. of or relating to inheritance or heredity:

   a hereditary title.

3. existing by reason of feeling, opinions, or prejudices held by predecessors:

   a hereditary enemy.

   Synonyms: traditional, ancestral

4. Law.
   1. descending by inheritance.
   2. transmitted or transmissible in the line of descent by force of law.
   3. holding title, rights, etc., by inheritance:

      a hereditary proprietor.

5. Mathematics.
   1. (of a collection of sets) signifying that each subset of a set in the collection is itself a set in the collection.
   2. of or relating to a mathematical property, as containing a greatest integer, applicable to every subset of a set that has the property.

hereditary

/ -trɪ; hɪˈrɛdɪtərɪ /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or denoting factors that can be transmitted genetically from one generation to another
2. law
   1. descending or capable of descending to succeeding generations by inheritance
   2. transmitted or transmissible according to established rules of descent
3. derived from one's ancestors; traditional

   hereditary feuds

4. maths logic
   1. (of a set) containing all those elements which have a given relation to any element of the set
   2. (of a property) transferred by the given relation, so that if x has the property P and xRy, then y also has the property P

hereditary

/ hə-rĕd′ĭ-tĕr′ē /

1. Passed or capable of being passed from parent to offspring by means of genes.

hereditary

1. A descriptive term for conditions capable of being transmitted from parent to offspring through the genes . The term hereditary is applied to diseases such as hemophilia and characteristics such as the tendency toward baldness that pass from parents to children.

Derived Forms

• heˈreditarily, adverb
• heˈreditariness, noun

Other Words From

• he·red·i·tar·i·ly [hi-red-i-, tair, -, uh, -lee, -, red, -i-ter-], adverb
• he·redi·tari·ness noun
• nonhe·redi·tari·ly adverb
• nonhe·redi·tari·ness noun
• nonhe·redi·tary adjective
• quasi-he·redi·tary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hereditary¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin hērēditārius “relating to inheritance,” equivalent to hērēdit(ās) “inheritance,” heredity + -ārius -ary

Synonym Study

See innate.

Example Sentences

As well as promising to bring about "immediate modernisation" to the Lords by abolishing hereditary peers, Labour's general election manifesto pledged to introduce a mandatory retirement age of 80 for members of the upper house.

From BBC

There are 92 seats for hereditary peers who have inherited their titles from their families, and in its general election manifesto, Labour promised to scrap them.

From BBC

As of 1356, there were seven electors: Four were hereditary nobles and three were chosen by the Catholic Church.

From Salon

It’s the latest example of the Republican presidential nominee alleging that immigrants are changing the hereditary makeup of the United States.

From Los Angeles Times

He was also the hereditary Chief of the Scottish Clan Kerr, a testament to his deep Scottish roots.

From BBC

Related Words

• genetic
• inborn
• transmitted