hereditary

American  

[huh-red-i-ter-ee] / həˈrɛd ɪˌtɛr i /

adjective

1. passing, or capable of passing, naturally from parent to offspring through the genes.

   Blue eyes are hereditary in our family.

2. of or relating to inheritance or heredity.

   a hereditary title.

3. existing by reason of feeling, opinions, or prejudices held by predecessors.

   a hereditary enemy.

   Synonyms:

   traditional, ancestral

4. Law.

   1. descending by inheritance.

   2. transmitted or transmissible in the line of descent by force of law.

   3. holding title, rights, etc., by inheritance.

      a hereditary proprietor.

5. Mathematics.

   1. (of a collection of sets) signifying that each subset of a set in the collection is itself a set in the collection.

   2. of or relating to a mathematical property, as containing a greatest integer, applicable to every subset of a set that has the property.

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hereditary British  

/ hɪˈrɛdɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or denoting factors that can be transmitted genetically from one generation to another

2. law

   1. descending or capable of descending to succeeding generations by inheritance

   2. transmitted or transmissible according to established rules of descent

3. derived from one's ancestors; traditional

   hereditary feuds

4. maths logic

   1. (of a set) containing all those elements which have a given relation to any element of the set

   2. (of a property) transferred by the given relation, so that if x has the property P and xRy, then y also has the property P

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hereditary Scientific  

/ hə-rĕd′ĭ-tĕr′ē /

1. Passed or capable of being passed from parent to offspring by means of genes.

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hereditary Cultural  

1. A descriptive term for conditions capable of being transmitted from parent to offspring through the genes. The term hereditary is applied to diseases such as hemophilia and characteristics such as the tendency toward baldness that pass from parents to children.

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Synonym Usage

See innate.

Other Word Forms

• hereditariness
  noun
• nonhereditariness
  noun
• nonhereditary
  adjective
• quasi-hereditary
  adjective
• hereditarily
  adverb
• nonhereditarily
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of hereditary

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin hērēditārius “relating to inheritance,” equivalent to hērēdit(ās) “inheritance,” heredity + -ārius -ary

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Explanation

Things that are hereditary are inherited — passed down through the DNA of your biological parents. Has anyone ever said "You have your mom's eyes" or "Wow, you look like your grandfather"? They're commenting on hereditary features — things you got from your parents, and their parents, and all the other family genes you carry. Hair color, height, and even parts of your personality tend to be hereditary, or passed down genetically. Not all hereditary things are good: you can also inherit health conditions, crooked teeth, or your grandpa's bald spot.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hereditary

Due to Jack's HAE being hereditary, other family members suffer from the condition, including his mother and grandmother.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

Almost all the sitting heads of state who appear on the circulating coins that I analyzed are hereditary monarchs.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

“There is the theory that hereditary systems are obsolete,” he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

"If it becomes known that his mother was of ethnic Korean origins from Japan, it would not only shake his legitimacy but also destabilise the hereditary system at its roots," said Ryu.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

He had barricaded the most fragile of his convictions—that purely hereditary influences could explain such patterns of accomplishment—from any scientific challenge.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

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Related Words

• genetic
• inborn
• transmitted

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