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What is hereditary?

hereditary

 [huh-red-i-ter-ee]   Example Sentences

he·red·i·tar·y

   [huh-red-i-ter-ee]
adjective
1.
passing, or capable of passing, naturally from parent to offspring through the genes: Blue eyes are hereditary in our family. Compare congenital.
2.
of or pertaining to inheritance or heredity: a hereditary title.
3.
existing by reason of feeling, opinions, or prejudices held by predecessors: a hereditary enemy.
4.
Law.
a.
descending by inheritance.
b.
transmitted or transmissible in the line of descent by force of law.
c.
holding title, rights, etc., by inheritance: a hereditary proprietor.
5.
Mathematics.
a.
(of a collection of sets) signifying that each subset of a set in the collection is itself a set in the collection.
b.
of or pertaining to a mathematical property, as containing a greatest integer, applicable to every subset of a set that has the property.
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Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin hērēditārius relating to inheritance, equivalent to hērēdit(ās) inheritance, heredity + -ārius -ary

Related forms
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
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qua·si-he·red·i·tar·y, adjective
COLLAPSE

Can be confused: heritable, hereditary, inheritable (see synonym note at the current entry).

Synonyms
1, 2. See innate. 3. ancestral, traditional.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Hereditary is always a great word to know.
So is search warrant. Does it mean:
a court order authorizing the examination of a dwelling or other private premises by police officials, as for stolen goods
a written agreement deposited with a third person, by whom it is to be delivered to the grantee or promisee on the fulfillment of some condition
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Example Sentences
  • They do not want information about their ancestry or hereditary dispositions available to any but themselves.
  • Even prison places can become hereditary and probably will if the aftermath of these riots is mishandled.
  • People with hereditary amyloidosis will need a liver transplant.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
hereditary (hɪˈrɛdɪtərɪ, -trɪ)
 
—adj
1.  of, relating to, or denoting factors that can be transmitted genetically from one generation to another
2.  law
 a.  descending or capable of descending to succeeding generations by inheritance
 b.  transmitted or transmissible according to established rules of descent
3.  derived from one's ancestors; traditional: hereditary feuds
4.  maths, logic
 a.  (of a set) containing all those elements which have a given relation to any element of the set
 b.  (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
 
he'reditarily
 
—adv
 
he'reditariness
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

hereditary he·red·i·tar·y (hə-rěd'ĭ-těr'ē)
adj.
Transmitted or capable of being transmitted genetically from parent to offspring.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Science Dictionary
hereditary   (hə-rěd'ĭ-těr'ē)  Pronunciation Key 
Passed or capable of being passed from parent to offspring by means of genes.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

hereditary definition


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.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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