lineage
1 Americannoun
noun
-
direct descent from an ancestor, esp a line of descendants from one ancestor
-
a less common word for derivation
noun
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
Explanation
The word lineage is used to describe everyone who descends from a particular ancestor. Mozart had six children, but none of them had children of their own, so the composer’s lineage ended after one generation. If you put an adjective like artistic or spiritual before lineage, it becomes clear you're talking about people who are related by ideas or attitude, not by blood. There are many composers, even today, who trace their musical lineage to Mozart, even though his actual lineage ended in the 19th century.
Vocabulary lists containing lineage
It's All in the Family
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "J," "K," and "L"
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Born a Crime
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Because this chromosome is passed from father to son with little change, the findings confirm a continuous male lineage within the Da Vinci family dating back at least 15 generations.
From Science Daily • May 4, 2026
According to oral history passed down over the generations, Santseo was planted in the 13th Century by Komfo Nana Asumbia, a royal figure to whom we trace our lineage.
From BBC • May 2, 2026
Although Noodles is from Orange County, he is no stranger to the South Bay’s punk rock history and musical lineage.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2026
The Rothschilds trace their lineage back to Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who rose from his birth in the Jewish ghetto of Frankfurt to build an international banking empire.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026
If they trace their lineage back far enough, at a certain point it splits into white and native and a tangled web of “other.”
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
