ped·i·gree

[ped-i-gree]
noun
1.
an ancestral line; line of descent; lineage; ancestry.
2.
a genealogical table, chart, list, or record, especially of a purebred animal.
3.
distinguished, excellent, or pure ancestry.
4.
derivation, origin, or history: the pedigree of a word.
Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English pedegru < Anglo-French, equivalent to Middle French pie de grue literally, foot of crane, a fanciful way of describing the appearance of the lines of a genealogical chart

Related forms
ped·i·gree·less, adjective

Synonyms
2. Pedigree, genealogy refer to an account of ancestry. A pedigree is a table or chart recording a line of ancestors, either of persons or (more especially) of animals, as horses, cattle, and dogs; in the case of animals, such a table is used as proof of superior qualities: a detailed pedigree. A genealogy is an account of the descent of a person or family traced through a series of generations, usually from the first known ancestor: a genealogy that includes a king.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To pedigree
00:10
Pedigree is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
pedigree (ˈpɛdɪˌɡriː) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  a.  the line of descent of a purebred animal
 b.  (as modifier): a pedigree bull
2.  a document recording this
3.  a genealogical table, esp one indicating pure ancestry
4.  derivation or background: the pedigree of an idea
 
[C15: from Old French pie de grue crane's foot, alluding to the spreading lines used in a genealogical chart]
 
'pedigreed
 
—adj

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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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

pedigree
c.1410, "genealogical table or chart," from Anglo-Fr. pe de gru, a variant of O.Fr. pied de gru "foot of a crane," from L. pedem "foot" + gruem (nom. grus) "crane," cognate with Gk. geranos, O.E. cran, see crane). On old manuscripts, "descent" was indicated by a forked sign
resembling the branching lines of a genealogical chart; the sign also happened to look like a bird's footprint. Form infl. in M.E. by association with degree. Meaning "ancestral line" is c.1440; of animals, 1608.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

pedigree ped·i·gree (pěd'ĭ-grē')
n.
An ancestral line of descent, especially as diagrammed on a chart, to show ancestral history and to analyze Mendelian inheritance of certain traits including familial diseases.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Example sentences
Such financial crises may appear to come from nowhere, but they have a long pedigree.
The portrait that emerges is of a culture that's insanely obsessed with pedigree.
For someone with a pedigree in the health and beauty-aid industry, she offered us the welcome mix of form with substance.
And attempts by poor countries to alter the course of urbanisation have a long pedigree in the rich world.
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