Inheritabilities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The qualities or characteristics that can be passed down genetically from parents to their offspring
2. The potential for traits or attributes to be transmitted from one generation to the next through heredity
3. The hereditary traits or conditions that can be transferred from progenitors to their descendants

Etymology: "Inheritabilities" is the plural of "inheritability," a noun meaning the quality of being capable of being passed down, especially from parent to offspring. It is built from "inherit," which came into English from Old French "enheriter," from Medieval Latin "inhereditare," meaning to make someone an heir, itself from Latin "heres," heir. The suffix does the real work. "Inheritable" is an adjective formed from "inherit" plus "-able," and "-ability" is the noun form that turns that adjective into a quality. Adding the plural "-ies" then allows the word to name several distinct inheritable traits at once, such as eye colour, height or susceptibility to a disease. The word is a technical formation, typical of the vocabulary of genetics and biology that grew up in the 19th and 20th centuries, when scientists needed precise terms for what could and could not be transmitted between generations.

Synonyms: inheritance potential, heredity

Antonyms: noninheritability