Heredity
/həˈrɛdɪti/noun
The passing of genetic traits from parents to offspring.
Did you know?Heredity comes from Latin *hereditās*, the legal idea of an inheritance, so the word began as property passed through a family before it ever meant genes.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ǵʰey-
“to lie down, settle, remain”
Latin
Latin
heres
“heir; one who succeeds to property”
Latin
Latin
hereditas
“inheritance; legal succession”
Old French
OF
heredite
“inheritance, hereditary right”
Middle English
English
heredite
“inheritance; hereditary possession”
Modern English
English
heredity
“the transmission of traits from parents to offspring”