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heredity|hɪˈrɛdɪtɪ|
[a. F. hérédité (11th c. in Littré) the quality of being heir, heritage, ad. L. hērēditāt-em heirship, inheritance, f. hērēs, hērēd-em heir: see -ity.]
†1. Hereditary succession; inheritance; concr. that which is inherited; an inheritance. Obs.
c1540tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) I. 252 This Richard was a manne..well worthie the princelie hereditee of his father which hee soberlie governed. Ibid. 294 His promise..made to the duke concerninge the hereditee of the kingdom.
2. Law. Hereditary character, quality, or condition; the fact of being hereditary or heritable.
1784Lafayette in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) IV. 61 If it is found that the heredity endangers the true principles of democracy, I am..ready..to renounce it. 1882Athenæum 30 Dec. 896/2 The heredity and independence of the fiefs can be shown to have commenced in..the tenth century.
3. Biol. The property of organic beings, in virtue of which offspring inherit the nature and characteristics of parents and ancestors generally; the tendency of like to beget like. (Often spoken of as a law of nature.)
1863H. Spencer Princ. Biol. §80 Some naturalists seem to entertain a vague belief, that the law of Heredity applies only to main characters of structure, and not to details. Ibid. §82 Some of the best illustrations of functional heredity are furnished by the mental characteristics of the human race. 1869F. Galton Hered. Genius 334, I was desirous of obtaining facts bearing on heredity from China. 1889Poulton tr. Weismann's Ess. Heredity 72 The word heredity in its common acceptation, means that property of an organism by which its peculiar nature is transmitted to its descendants.
attrib.1894Daily News 12 July 6/2 Heredity philosophers should be interested in the portraits of Mr. Edison's parents. |