patrimony

pat·ri·mo·ny
P3A1T1R1I1M3O1N1Y4
UK/ˈpat.ɹɪ.mə.ni/US/ˈpæt.ɹɪˌmoʊ.ni/

noun

A right or estate inherited from one's father; or, in a larger sense, from any male ancestor.

“cultural patrimony”

Similar
heirloombirthright
OriginMiddle French patrimoine ← Latin patrimōnium →
UncommonScrabble 16
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Meanings

nounpatrimony (plural patrimonies)

plural patrimonies

  1. A right or estate inherited from one's father; or, in a larger sense, from any male ancestor.

    cultural patrimony

    4 more examples

    The museum holds an important part of the country's cultural patrimony.

    The cathedral is regarded as part of the region's historical patrimony.

    national patrimony

    historical patrimony

    Synonyms: heirloom

  2. Formerly, a church estate or endowment.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA right or estate inherited from one's father; or, in a larger sense, from any male ancestor.

Similar
heirloom

More synonyms by meaning

nounan inheritance coming by right of birth (especially by primogeniture)

Similar
birthright
Broader
inheritanceheritage
Also see
birthrightheirloom

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinpatrimōnium
  2. Middle Frenchpatrimoine
  3. Englishpatrimony

From earlier patrimoyne, from patremoyne, from Middle French patrimoine/patremoine, semilearned borrowing from Latin patrimōnium, from pater (“father”) + -mōnium (“state, condition”). First attested in 1513. By surface analysis, patri- + -mony. Compare matrimony. Displaced native Old English fæderġestrēon.

More words from Middle French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian наследство, наследствен имот
  • наследство (nasledstvo)inheritance from one's ancestor
  • наследствен имот (nasledstven imot)inheritance from one's ancestor
Catalan patrimoni
  • patrimoniinheritance from one's ancestor
Dutch patrimonium
  • patrimoniuminheritance from one's ancestor
Finnish isänperintö, perintö
  • isänperintöinheritance from one's ancestor
  • perintöinheritance from one's ancestor
French patrimoine
  • patrimoineinheritance from one's ancestor
German Patrimonium
  • Patrimoniuminheritance from one's ancestor
Greek κληρονομιά, πατριμόνιο
  • κληρονομιά (klironomiá)inheritance from one's ancestor
  • πατριμόνιο (património)inheritance from one's ancestor
Irish dúchas
  • dúchasinheritance from one's ancestor
Italian patrimonio
  • patrimonioinheritance from one's ancestor
Latin patrimōnium
  • patrimōniuminheritance from one's ancestor
Norwegian fedrearv
  • fedrearvinheritance from one's ancestor
Polish dziedzictwo, ojcowizna
  • dziedzictwoinheritance from one's ancestor
  • ojcowiznainheritance from one's ancestor
Portuguese património, patrimônio
  • patrimónioinheritance from one's ancestor
  • patrimônioinheritance from one's ancestor
Russian насле́дство, во́тчина
  • насле́дство (naslédstvo)inheritance from one's ancestor
  • во́тчина (vótčina)inheritance from one's ancestor
  • насле́дие (naslédije)inheritance from one's ancestor
Spanish patrimonio
  • patrimonioinheritance from one's ancestor
Swedish farsarv, fädernearv
  • farsarvinheritance from one's ancestor
  • fädernearvinheritance from one's ancestor
Turkish miras
  • mirasinheritance from one's ancestor
Ukrainian спадок, вотчина
  • спадок (spadok)inheritance from one's ancestor
  • вотчина (votčyna)inheritance from one's ancestor
  • спадщина (spadščyna)inheritance from one's ancestor
Cite this entry
APA

patrimony. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/patrimony

MLA

“patrimony.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/patrimony. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “patrimony,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/patrimony.

Source: patrimony on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.