heredity

[ huh-red-i-tee ]

noun

, Biology.

, plural he·red·i·ties.

1. the transmission of genetic characters from parents to offspring: it is dependent upon the segregation and recombination of genes during meiosis and fertilization and results in the genesis of a new individual similar to others of its kind but exhibiting certain variations resulting from the particular mix of genes and their interactions with the environment.
2. the genetic characters so transmitted.

heredity

/ hɪˈrɛdɪtɪ /

noun

1. the transmission from one generation to another of genetic factors that determine individual characteristics: responsible for the resemblances between parents and offspring
2. the sum total of the inherited factors or their characteristics in an organism

heredity

/ hə-rĕd′ĭ-tē /

1. The passage of biological traits or characteristics from parents to offspring through the inheritance of genes.

heredity

1. The passing of characteristics from parents to children. ( See genetics .)

Word History and Origins

Origin of heredity¹

First recorded in 1530–40; from Middle French heredite, from Latin hērēditāt-, stem of hērēditās “inheritance,” from hērēd- (stem of hērēs ) heir + -itās -ity

Word History and Origins

Origin of heredity¹

C16: from Old French heredite, from Latin hērēditās inheritance; see heir

Example Sentences

“The existence of epigenetic heredity is of paramount biological relevance, but the extent to which it happens in mammals remains largely unknown,” said Drs.

From Singularity Hub 

Lewontin devoted nearly his entire academic career to the study of genes, the unit of heredity by which traits are passed from parent to offspring.

From Washington Post

Sometimes the intended insights have relied on simplified scenarios that shed light on scientific questions, such as Bell’s theorem or heredity, or on philosophical questions, such as elegance in mathematics or randomness.

From Quanta Magazine

“We as a species need to maintain the flexibility, in the face of future threats, to take control over our own heredity,” George Daley, the dean of Harvard Medical School, told an audience in Hong Kong in 2018.

From MIT Technology Review

Yes, heredity is indeed far more subtle than we’d guess from the simple Mendelian mathematical rules we learned in school.

From Quanta Magazine

Not surprisingly, then, this is a book about heredity, about fathers and sons and their awkward relationships.

From The Daily Beast

A frequently touching domestic drama about an academic Chicago family, it mulls Big Themes: war, faith, heredity.

From The Daily Beast

Heredity decides how a man shall be bred; environment regulates what he shall learn.

From Project Gutenberg

Take away from a man all that heredity and environment have given him, and there will be nothing left.

From Project Gutenberg

As all men are what heredity and environment have made them, no man deserves punishment nor reward.

From Project Gutenberg

I doubt if most people, although they would call that a platitude, realize that heredity is anything more than a telling word.

From Project Gutenberg

As might be expected in this severer form of mental disturbance, heredity plays an especially important part in circular insanity.

From Project Gutenberg