Hereditarie

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Passed from one generation to the next through family lines, such as a trait, title, or disease that descendants receive from their forebears
2. Transmitted by inheritance from parents or ancestors rather than acquired during a person's lifetime
3. Describing something handed down within a family from earlier generations to their descendants by birth or legal succession

Etymology: An older spelling of "hereditary," this form shows the "-arie" ending that early modern writers often used where modern English has "-ary." The root is Latin "hereditarius," meaning "pertaining to an heir," from "hereditas," inheritance, which comes from "heres," heir. The same Latin "heres" gave English "heir," which came through Anglo-French. The two words are close relatives: "heir" names the person who receives property, while the adjective describes what passes down to that person. The sense widened from property and legal title to physical and mental traits passed from parent to child.