hereditary

English

Etymology

From Latin hērēditārius, from hērēditās (“inheritance”), from hērēs (“heir”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /həˈɹɛdɪt(ə)ɹi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /həˈɹɛdɪˌtɛɹi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: he‧red‧i‧ta‧ry

Adjective

hereditary (comparative more hereditary, superlative most hereditary)

1. Passed on as an inheritance, by last will or intestate.
2. Of a title, honor or right: legally granted to somebody's descendant after that person's death.

   Duke is a hereditary title which was created in Norman times.

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

   hereditary rulers

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

   Haemophilia is hereditary in his family.

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

Synonyms

• inhereditary

Antonyms

• nonhereditary

Derived terms

• hereditarily
• hereditariness
• hereditary disease
• hereditary elliptocytosis
• hereditary mechanics
• hereditary peer
• semihereditary

 

Related terms

• see heir

Translations

which is passed on as inheritance

• Asturian: hereditariu m
• Bulgarian: наследствен (bg) (nasledstven)
• Catalan: hereditari
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 遗留的

• Danish: arvelig (da)
• Dutch: erfelijk (nl)
• Finnish: perintö- (fi), perintönä saatu
• Georgian: სამემკვიდრეო (samemḳvidreo)
• German: erblich (de)
• Greek: κληρονομικός (el) m (klironomikós)
• Ido: heredala (io)
• Italian: ereditario (it)
• Luxembourgish: ierflech

• Macedonian: наследен m (nasleden)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: arvelig

• Polish: dziedziczny (pl)
• Portuguese: hereditário (pt) m
• Romanian: ereditar (ro) m or n
• Russian: насле́дственный (ru) (naslédstvennyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: násljedan (sh)
• Slovak: zdedený, dedený
• Spanish: heredado (es), hereditario (es)
• Swedish: ärftlig (sv)
• Tagalog: manahin

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

• Bulgarian: наследствен (bg) (nasledstven)
• Catalan: hereditari
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 世袭的

• Czech: dědičný (cs) m
• Danish: arvelig (da)
• Dutch: erfelijk (nl), erf-
• Finnish: perinnöllinen (fi)
• German: Erb-
• Greek: κληρονομικός (el) m (klironomikós), προγονικός (el) m (progonikós)
• Italian: ereditario (it)
• Macedonian: наследен m (nasleden)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: arvelig

• Polish: dziedziczny (pl)
• Portuguese: hereditário (pt) m
• Romanian: ereditar (ro) m pl
• Russian: насле́дственный (ru) (naslédstvennyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: násljedan (sh)
• Slovak: dedičný
• Spanish: heredado (es), hereditario (es)

of a person: holding a hereditary title or rank

• Dutch: erfelijk (nl), erf-
• Finnish: perintö- (fi)
• German: Erb-
• Greek: κληρονομικός (el) m (klironomikós)
• Italian: ereditario (it)
• Macedonian: наследен m (nasleden)

• Polish: dziedziczny (pl)
• Portuguese: hereditário (pt) m
• Romanian: ereditar (ro) m or n
• Russian: насле́дственный (ru) (naslédstvennyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: násljedan (sh)
• Slovak: dedičný
• Spanish: heredado (es), hereditario (es)

of a disease or trait: passed in the genes

• Bulgarian: наследствен (bg) (nasledstven)
• Catalan: hereditari
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 遗传的

• Czech: dědičný (cs) m
• Danish: arvelig (da)
• Dutch: erfelijk (nl)
• Finnish: perinnöllinen (fi)
• French: héréditaire (fr)
• Georgian: მემკვიდრეობითი (memḳvidreobiti)
• German: erblich (de), Erb-
• Greek: κληρονομικός (el) m (klironomikós)

  Ancient: συγγενικός (sungenikós)

• Hungarian: örökletes (hu)
• Italian: ereditario (it)
• Macedonian: наследен m (nasleden)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: arvelig

• Polish: dziedziczny (pl)
• Portuguese: hereditário (pt) m
• Romanian: ereditar (ro) m or n
• Russian: насле́дственный (ru) (naslédstvennyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: násljedan (sh)
• Slovak: dedičný
• Spanish: hereditario (es)
• Swedish: ärftlig (sv)
• Turkish: ırsî

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} hereda
• French: ^{(please verify)} héréditaire (fr)

• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} ereditar (ro), ^{(please verify)} moștenit (ro)

Noun

hereditary (plural hereditaries)

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

See also

• congenital

Anagrams

• erythraeid