1. 1. A line of ancestors; a lineage.
   2. A list of ancestors; a family tree.
2. A chart of an individual's ancestors used in human genetics to analyze Mendelian inheritance of certain traits, especially of familial diseases.
3. A list of the ancestors of a purebred animal.

[Middle English pedegru, from Anglo-Norman pe de grue : pe, foot (from Latin pēs; see pedi-) + de, of (from Latin dē; see de-) + grue, crane (from the resemblance of a crane's foot to the lines of succession on a genealogical chart) (from Vulgar Latin *grūā , from Latin grūs, gru-).]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.