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1. Dictionary

   hereditary

   /hɪˈrɛdɪt(ə)ri/

   adjective

   • 1. (of a title, office, or right) conferred by or based on inheritance: "the Queen's hereditary right to the throne"
   • ▪ (of a person) holding a position by inheritance: "a hereditary peer"
   • ▪ (of a characteristic or disease) determined by genetic factors and therefore able to be passed on from parents to their offspring or descendants: "cystic fibrosis is our most common fatal hereditary disease" Similar geneticgeneticalcongenitalinborninherentinheritedinbredinnatein the familyin the bloodin the genes
   • ▪ relating to inheritance: "the main objection to the hereditary principle is that such peers are not elected" Similar inheritedobtained by inheritancebequeathedwilledhanded-downpassed-downpassed-ontransferredtransmittedancestralfamilyfamilialrare:lineal
   • 2. (of a set) defined such that every element which has a given relation to a member of the set is also a member of the set.

   Word Origin late Middle English: from Latin hereditarius, from hereditas (see heredity).

   Derivatives

   • 1. hereditarily adverb
   • 2. hereditariness noun

   Scrabble Points: 17

   • H

     4

   • E

     1

   • R

     1

   • E

     1

   • D

     2

   • I

     1

   • T

     1

   • A

     1

   • R

     1

   • Y

     4

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