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pedigree

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The definition of a pedigree is a record of known lineage or ancestors.

(noun)

An example of a pedigree is a family tree.
An example of a pedigree is a list of relatives for a purebred animal.

See pedigree in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

a list of ancestors; record of ancestry; family tree
descent; lineage; ancestry
a recorded or known line of descent, esp. of a purebred animal

Origin: ME pedegru, pe de gre < MFr pié de grue, lit., crane's foot < L pes, foot + grus, a crane: from the lines in the genealogical tree

Related Forms:

pedigreed adjective

See pedigree in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

a. A line of ancestors; a lineage.
b. A list of ancestors; a family tree.
A chart of an individual's ancestors used in human genetics to analyze Mendelian inheritance of certain traits, especially of familial diseases.
A list of the ancestors of a purebred animal.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English pedegru

Origin: , from Anglo-Norman pe de grue

Origin: : pe, foot (from Latin pēs; see pedi-)

Origin: + de, of (from Latin dē; see de-)

Origin: + grue, crane (from the resemblance of a crane's foot to the lines of succession on a genealogical chart) (from Vulgar Latin *grūā, from Latin grūs, gru-; see gerə-² in Indo-European roots)

Related Forms: