hereditary Hear it!

hereditary Definition

he·redi·tary (hə red′i ter′ē)

adjective

    1. of, or passed down by, inheritance from an ancestor to a legal heir; ancestral
    2. having title, right, etc. by inheritance
  2. of, or passed down by, heredity; designating or of a characteristic transmitted genetically from generation to generation
  3. being such because of attitudes, beliefs, etc. passed down through generations hereditary allies

Etymology: L hereditarius < hereditas: see heredity

hereditary Related Forms

he·red′i·tar′i·ly adverb he·red′i·tar′i·ness noun

hereditary Synonyms

hereditary

modif.

inherited, genetic, innate, paternal; see ancestral. See syn. study at innate.

hereditary Usage Examples

Modifying Another Word

  • often: Guinea pigs with this problem should not be bred since dental malocclusion is often hereditary.
  • not: The majority of types of arthritis are not hereditary.
  • strictly: However, there was little pretense that it was held on a strictly hereditary basis.
  • partly: The Upper House, in theory, defies every canon of democracy, since its membership is mainly appointed and partly hereditary.
  • either: There is no evidence to suggest that CAD is either hereditary or infectious.
  • probably: The Times editorial on June 3rd claimed that being " barking mad was probably hereditary.

Modifies a noun

  • haemochromatosis: Treatment The treatment for hereditary haemochromatosis is very simple: blood is removed from the body at regular intervals.
  • peer: Why not, instead of hereditary peers, have the House of Lords filled with lucky winners?
  • peerage: Following the House of Lords Act 1999 there are only 92 peers who sit by virtue of hereditary peerage.
  • non-polyposis: MSI has been reported in a variety of cancers and is a consistent feature of tumors from patients with hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer.
  • nonpolyposis: PATIENTS: Carriers of a mutation for hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer who were 25 years of age.
  • monarchy: Simply put, a core part of what hereditary monarchy is all about is lineage.

Used with adjective complement

  • become: During the troubles of the sixteenth century, the right became hereditary, or at least was declared such by several decisions.
  • make: This title was also made hereditary for the first son in line.
  • consider: In other words, knighthood in the Order was always considered hereditary in a sense.

Preposition: in

  • nature: Habits are either hereditary in nature or grows through imitation, but in both cases based on replication of a precedent.
  • sense: In other words, knighthood in the Order was always considered hereditary in a sense.