HEREDITARY

ancestral, hereditary, patrimonial, transmissible

(adjective) inherited or inheritable by established rules (usually legal rules) of descent; “ancestral home”; “ancestral lore”; “hereditary monarchy”; “patrimonial estate”; “transmissible tradition”

familial, genetic, hereditary, inherited, transmitted, transmissible

(adjective) occurring among members of a family usually by heredity; “an inherited disease”; “familial traits”; “genetically transmitted features”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

hereditary (comparative more hereditary, superlative most hereditary)

Passed on as an inheritance, by last will or intestate.

Of a title, honor or right: legally granted to somebody's descendant after that person's death.

Of a person: holding a legally hereditary title or rank.

Of a disease or trait: passed from a parent to offspring in the genes

(math) Of a ring: such that all submodules of projective modules over the ring are also projective.

Synonyms

• inhereditary

Antonyms

• nonhereditary

Noun

hereditary (plural hereditaries)

A hereditary ruler; a hereditary peer in the House of Lords.

Anagrams

• erythraeid

Source: Wiktionary

He*red"i*ta*ry, a. Etym: [L. hereditarius, fr. hereditas heirship, inheritance, fr. heres heir: cf. F. héréditaire. See Heir.]

1. Descended, or capable of descending, from an ancestor to an heir at law; received or passing by inheritance, or that must pass by inheritance; as, an hereditary estate or crown.

2. Transmitted, or capable of being transmitted, as a constitutional quality or condition from a parent to a child; as, hereditary pride, bravery, disease.

Syn.

– Ancestral; patrimonial; inheritable.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition