What does "hereditary" mean?

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

What is a synonym for "hereditary"?

Common synonyms include: ancestral, genetic, inherited, allelic, ancestral, ancestral land.

Pronounced //həˈɹɛdɪt(ə)ɹi//.

/həˈɹɛdɪt(ə)ɹi/ adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Noun

Adjective

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

Adjective

1
inherited or inheritable by established rules (usually legal rules) of descent wordnet
2
occurring among members of a family usually by heredity wordnet

"My baby has a hereditary disease."

Inherited from Middle English hereditarie, from Latin hērēditārius, from hērēditās (“inheritance”), from hērēs (“heir”).