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.

   • 1985, Urology, volume 2, page 12:

     Xanthuria is an hereditary disorder in which there is an absence of the enzyme xanthine oxidase which interferes with the metabolic breakdown of purines, leading to an increased excretion of xanthine in the urine and to formation of stones.

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

Synonyms

• inhereditary

Antonyms

• nonhereditary

Derived terms

• Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy
• hereditarily
• hereditariness
• hereditary disease
• hereditary elliptocytosis
• hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia
• hereditary mechanics
• hereditary peer
• nonhereditary
• semihereditary

Related terms

• see heir

Translations

which is passed on as inheritance

• Armenian: ժառանգական (žaṙangakan)
• Asturian: hereditariu (ast)
• Belarusian: спа́дчынны (be) (spádčynny), спа́дкавы (spádkavy)
• Bulgarian: насле́дствен (bg) (naslédstven)
• Catalan: hereditari
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 遺傳的 / 遗传的 (zh) (yíchuán de), 遺留的 / 遗留的 (zh) (yíliú de)

• Czech: dědičný (cs)
• Danish: arvelig (da)
• Dutch: erfelijk (nl)
• Finnish: perintö- (fi), perintönä saatu
• Georgian: სამემკვიდრეო (samemḳvidreo)
• German: erblich (de)
• Greek: κληρονομικός (el) (klironomikós)
• Hindi: ख़ानदानी (xāndānī), आनुवंशिक (hi) (ānuvañśik), वंशागत (hi) (vañśāgat), पुश्तैनी (hi) (puśtainī), मौरूसी (hi) (maurūsī), वंशानुक्रमिक (vañśānukramik), पारिवारिक (hi) (pārivārik)
• Ido: heredala (io)
• Italian: ereditario (it)
• Luxembourgish: ierflech
• Macedonian: наследен (nasleden)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: arvelig

• Polish: dziedziczny (pl)
• Portuguese: hereditário (pt)
• Romanian: ereditar (ro)
• Russian: насле́дственный (ru) (naslédstvennyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: на́следан, на́сљедан

  Roman: následan, násljedan (sh)

• Sicilian: riditaru
• Slovak: zdedený, dedený, dedičný
• Slovene: deden (sl)
• Spanish: heredado (es), hereditario (es)
• Swedish: ärftlig (sv)
• Tagalog: manahin
• Ukrainian: спадко́вий (spadkóvyj), спадкоє́мний (spadkojémnyj)
• Welsh: etifeddol

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

• Bulgarian: насле́дствен (bg) (naslédstven)
• Catalan: hereditari
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 世襲的 / 世袭的 (zh) (shìxí de)

• Czech: dědičný (cs)
• Danish: arvelig (da)
• Dutch: erfelijk (nl), erf-
• Finnish: perinnöllinen (fi)
• German: Erb-
• Greek: κληρονομικός (el) (klironomikós), προγονικός (el) (progonikós)
• Hindi: ख़ानदानी (xāndānī), आनुवंशिक (hi) (ānuvañśik), वंशागत (hi) (vañśāgat), पैतृक (hi) (paitŕk), पुश्तैनी (hi) (puśtainī), मौरूसी (hi) (maurūsī), वंशानुक्रमिक (vañśānukramik)
• Italian: ereditario (it)
• Macedonian: наследен (nasleden)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: arvelig

• Polish: dziedziczny (pl)
• Portuguese: hereditário (pt)
• Romanian: ereditar (ro)
• Russian: насле́дственный (ru) (naslédstvennyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: на́следан, на́сљедан

  Roman: následan, násljedan (sh)

• Sicilian: riditatu, riditaru
• Slovak: dedičný
• Spanish: heredado (es), hereditario (es)
• Welsh: etifeddol

of a person: holding a hereditary title or rank

• Dutch: erfelijk (nl), erf-
• Finnish: perintö- (fi)
• German: Erb-
• Greek: κληρονομικός (el) (klironomikós)
• Italian: ereditario (it)
• Macedonian: наследен (nasleden)
• Polish: dziedziczny (pl)
• Portuguese: hereditário (pt)
• Romanian: ereditar (ro)
• Russian: насле́дственный (ru) (naslédstvennyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: на́следан, на́сљедан

  Roman: následan, násljedan (sh)

• Slovak: dedičný
• Spanish: heredado (es), hereditario (es)
• Welsh: etifeddol

of a disease or trait: passed in the genes

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: спа́дчынны (be) (spádčynny), спа́дкавы (spádkavy)
• Bulgarian: насле́дствен (bg) (naslédstven)
• Catalan: hereditari
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 遺傳的 / 遗传的 (zh) (yíchuán de)

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

  Ancient: συγγενικός (sungenikós)

• Hindi: ख़ानदानी (xāndānī), आनुवंशिक (hi) (ānuvañśik), पुश्तैनी (hi) (puśtainī), मौरूसी (hi) (maurūsī), वंशानुक्रमिक (vañśānukramik)
• Hungarian: örökletes (hu)
• Italian: ereditario (it)
• Macedonian: наследен (nasleden)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: удамшлын (udamšlyn)

  Mongolian: ᠤᠳᠤᠮᠰᠢᠯ ᠦᠨ (udumsil-ün)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: arvelig

• Polish: dziedziczny (pl)
• Portuguese: hereditário (pt)
• Romanian: ereditar (ro)
• Russian: насле́дственный (ru) (naslédstvennyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: на́следан, на́сљедан

  Roman: následan, násljedan (sh)

• Slovak: dedičný
• Spanish: hereditario (es)
• Swedish: ärftlig (sv)
• Turkish: ırsî
• Ukrainian: спадко́вий (spadkóvyj)
• Welsh: etifeddol, genynnol

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. 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