adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

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

Adjective

1. 1
   Passed on as an inheritance, by last will or intestate.
2. 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. 3
   Of a person: holding a legally hereditary title or rank.

   "hereditary rulers"

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

   "Haemophilia is hereditary in his family."

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

Adjective

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

Synonyms

All synonyms

patrimonialancestralancestralatavisticbequeathedbodily

Antonyms

All antonyms

electivenonhereditary

Example

More examples

"My baby has a hereditary disease."

Etymology

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

Related phrases

Albright's hereditary osteodystrophyLeber's hereditary optic neuropathyhereditary diseasehereditary elliptocytosishereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasiahereditary mechanicshereditary peerhouse of lords

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.