lineage

¹ American  

[lin-ee-ij] / ˈlɪn i ɪdʒ /

noun

1. lineal descent from an ancestor; ancestry or extraction.

   She could trace her lineage to the early Pilgrims.

   Synonyms:

   genealogy, derivation, parentage, pedigree

2. the line of descendants of a particular ancestor; family.

   Synonyms:

   clan, tribe

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lineage ² American  

[lahy-nij] / ˈlaɪ nɪdʒ /

noun

1. linage.

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lineage ¹ British  

/ ˈlɪnɪɪdʒ /

noun

1. direct descent from an ancestor, esp a line of descendants from one ancestor

2. a less common word for derivation

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lineage ² British  

/ ˈlaɪnɪdʒ /

noun

1. a variant spelling of linage

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Etymology

Origin of lineage

1275–1325; line(al) + -age; replacing Middle English linage < Anglo-French; Old French lignage < Vulgar Latin *līneāticum. See line ¹, -age

Example Sentences

But the donut –the real donut– has more than one lineage.

From Salon

"I could talk to you for three hours about the family lineages, the mosques' minarets and why the mud-brick walls never collapse in the rain," he told AFP.

From Barron's

Based on genetic analysis, scientists estimate that this ancient strain separated from other T. pallidum lineages about 13,700 years ago.

From Science Daily

She was born, possibly of noble lineage, in what is now Mexico’s Veracruz state, along the Gulf of Mexico, in approximately 1500.

From Los Angeles Times

After the split between human and chimpanzee lineages around 7 million years ago, early human ancestors followed a complex evolutionary path that eventually led to the emergence of Homo sapiens roughly 300,000 years ago.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• clan
• descent
• genealogy
• origin
• pedigree