Meanings
nounheredity (usually uncountable, plural heredities)
plural heredities
- uncountableusuallyHereditary transmission of the physical and genetic qualities of parents to their offspring; the biological law by which living beings tend to repeat their characteristics in their descendants.
laws of heredity
3 more examples
genetics and heredity
influence of heredity
Eye color is often determined by heredity.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinhērēditas“condition of being an heir”
- Middle Frenchheredité
- Englishheredity
From Middle French heredité, from Latin hērēditas (“condition of being an heir”), from hēres (“heir”).
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian унаследяване, наследственост
- унаследяване (unasledjavane)hereditary transmission
- наследственост (nasledstvenost)hereditary transmission
Catalan herència
- herènciahereditary transmission
Chinese Mandarin 遺傳 /遗传
- 遺傳 /遗传 (yíchuán)hereditary transmission
Czech dědičnost
- dědičnosthereditary transmission
Dutch erfelijkheid
- erfelijkheidhereditary transmission
Finnish perinnöllisyys
- perinnöllisyyshereditary transmission
French hérédité
- héréditéhereditary transmission
Greek κληρονομικότητα
- κληρονομικότητα (klironomikótita)hereditary transmission
Hungarian örökletesség
- örökletességhereditary transmission
Indonesian hereditas
- hereditashereditary transmission
Irish oidhreacht, dúchas
- oidhreachthereditary transmission
- dúchashereditary transmission
Italian eredità
- ereditàhereditary transmission
Japanese 遺伝
- 遺伝 (iden)hereditary transmission
Polish dziedziczność
- dziedzicznośćhereditary transmission
Romanian ereditate
- ereditatehereditary transmission
Russian насле́дственность
- насле́дственность (naslédstvennostʹ)hereditary transmission
Slovak dedičnosť
- dedičnosťhereditary transmission
Spanish herencia, heredad
- herenciahereditary transmission
- heredadhereditary transmission
Swedish ärftlighet
- ärftlighethereditary transmission
Tagalog kamanahan
- kamanahanhereditary transmission
Thai กรรมพันธุ์
- กรรมพันธุ์hereditary transmission
Cite this entry
APA
heredity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heredity
MLA
“heredity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heredity. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “heredity,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heredity.
Source: heredity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.