heredity

[ huh-red-i-tee ]
See synonyms for heredity on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural he·red·i·ties.Biology.
  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.

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Origin of heredity

1
First recorded in 1530–40; from Middle French heredite, from Latin hērēditāt-, stem of hērēditās “inheritance,” from hērēd- (stem of hērēs ) heir + -itās -ity

Words Nearby heredity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use heredity in a sentence

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

    Favorite Historical Novels | Stella Tillyard | November 9, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • A frequently touching domestic drama about an academic Chicago family, it mulls Big Themes: war, faith, heredity.

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

    God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford
  • Take away from a man all that heredity and environment have given him, and there will be nothing left.

    God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford
  • As all men are what heredity and environment have made them, no man deserves punishment nor reward.

    God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford
  • I doubt if most people, although they would call that a platitude, realize that heredity is anything more than a telling word.

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

British Dictionary definitions for heredity

heredity

/ (hɪˈrɛdɪtɪ) /


nounplural -ties
  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

Origin of heredity

1
C16: from Old French heredite, from Latin hērēditās inheritance; see heir

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for heredity

heredity

[ hə-rĕdĭ-tē ]


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

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for heredity

heredity

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

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.