hereditary

UK: /hɪˈrɛdɪtəri/ US: /həˈrɛdɪˌtɛri/ ,(hə red′i ter′ē)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

he•red•i•tar•y /həˈrɛdɪˌtɛri/   adj. 

1. Genetics passing, or capable of passing, naturally from parent to young through the genes:
   a hereditary disease.
2. of or relating to inheritance:
   a hereditary title.
3. existing because of tradition:
   [before a noun] hereditary enemies for centuries.

he•red•i•tar•i•ly /hərɛdɪˈtɛrəli/  adv. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

he•red•i•tar•y  (hə red′i ter′ē), adj. 

1. Genetics passing, or capable of passing, naturally from parent to offspring through the genes:
   Blue eyes are hereditary in our family.
   Cf. congenital.
2. of or pertaining to inheritance or heredity:
   a hereditary title.
3. existing by reason of feeling, opinions, or prejudices held by predecessors:
   a hereditary enemy.
4. Law
   • descending by inheritance.
   • transmitted or transmissible in the line of descent by force of law.
   • holding title, rights, etc., by inheritance:
     a hereditary proprietor.
5. [Math.]
   • Mathematics (of a collection of sets) signifying that each subset of a set in the collection is itself a set in the collection.
   • Mathematics of or pertaining to a mathematical property, as containing a greatest integer, applicable to every subset of a set that has the property.

• Latin hērēditārius relating to inheritance, equivalent. to hērēdit(ās) inheritance, heredity + -ārius -ary
• 1375–1425; late Middle English

he•red•i•tar•i•ly  (hi red′i târ′ə lē, -red′i ter′-), adv.  he•red′i•tar′i•ness, n. 
Synonyms

• 1, 2. See innate. 
• 3. ancestral, traditional.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

hereditary / hɪˈrɛdɪtərɪ -trɪ/ adjective

1. of, relating to, or denoting factors that can be transmitted genetically from one generation to another
2. descending or capable of descending to succeeding generations by inheritance
3. transmitted or transmissible according to established rules of descent
4. derived from one's ancestors; traditional: hereditary feuds
5. (of a set) containing all those elements which have a given relation to any element of the set
6. (of a property) transferred by the given relation, so that if x has the property P and xRy, then y also has the property P

heˈreditarily adverb

heˈreditariness noun