- Law.
- Descending from an ancestor to a legal heir; passing down by inheritance.
- Having title or possession through inheritance.
- Transmitted or capable of being transmitted genetically from parent to offspring: a hereditary disease.
- Appearing in or characteristic of successive generations.
- Derived from or fostered by one's ancestors: a hereditary prejudice.
- Ancestral; traditional: their hereditary home. See synonyms at innate.
- Of or relating to heredity or inheritance.
[Middle English, from Latin hērēditārius, from hērēditās, inheritance. See heredity.]
hereditarily he·red'i·tar'i·ly (-târ'ə-lē) adv.hereditariness he·red'i·tar'i·ness n.





