HEREDITARY • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Hereditary

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/hərˈɛdətˌɛri/ Listen

adjective

Hereditary adj.

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.

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

Synonyms: Ancestral; patrimonial; inheritable.

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Etymology of 'Hereditary'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Hereditary" Quotes from Famous Books

... will command the respect of the people, he appoints him; but if not, he chooses the most suitable man in the village. The people are called upon to approve the choice, but their ratification is never refused. The office is not hereditary anywhere. ...

— Unbeaten Tracks in Japan • Isabella L. Bird

... see light where his eyes had striven vainly against the fog! Perhaps there is compensation to the parent if he live to see the lad conquering; but what of those who fall into silence when all is still uncertain, when they recognise in their offspring an hereditary weakness and danger as often as a rare gleam of new promise? One would bow reverently and sadly by the graves of ...

— Thyrza • George Gissing

... manufacturer of mocassins, snow-shoes, and garments of every description; she could also ride a horse and paddle or steer a canoe; she was fearless in danger, and she had, indeed, been greatly tried; once especially, when a party of Blackfeet, the hereditary enemies of her tribe, had made their way over the mountains to recover some horses which her people had captured. The Cootonais claimed the right of hunting the buffalo to the east of the Rocky Mountains, on the prairies which the Blackfeet considered belonged ...

— The Ferryman of Brill - and other stories • William H. G. Kingston

... not to be an ass," said St. John. "Who in the Lord's name could it be? It may be the Badas polishing off some hereditary foes, and it may be Marker getting rid of some wandering hillmen. Man, we're miles beyond the pale. Who's to make a ...

— The Half-Hearted • John Buchan

... may reveal it to one person, but not to more, and that one man must be virtuous.... If any wicked man should learn to practise the Art, the event would be fraught with great danger to Christendom. For such a man would overstep all bounds of moderation, and would remove from their hereditary thrones those legitimate princes who rule over the ...

— The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry • M. M. Pattison Muir

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