Parentage

noun

noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The identity and nature of one's parents, and in particular, the legitimacy of one's birth. countable, uncountable

    "I am a Lord, for so my deedes ſhall prooue, And yet a ſhepheard by my Parentage: […]"

  2. 2
    the hereditary derivation of an individual wordnet
  3. 3
    The social quality of one's class in society. countable, uncountable

    "My fortunes parentage — good parentage — To equal mine! — was it not thus? What say you?"

  4. 4
    the kinship relation of an offspring to the parents wordnet
  5. 5
    Origin; derivation. countable, figuratively, uncountable
Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    the state of being a parent wordnet

Example

More examples

"His parentage was unknown to us."

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French parentage.

Related phrases

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