How do you pronounce hereditary?

The recorded pronunciation is /həˈɹɛdɪˌtɛɹi/.

Where does hereditary come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

hereditary

/həˈɹɛdɪˌtɛɹi/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.49 in modern English

Syllables: he-red-i-ta-ry
IPA: /həˈɹɛdɪˌtɛɹi/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Passed on as an inheritance, by last will or intestate.

adj

Of a title, honor or right: legally granted to somebody's descendant after that person's death.

adj

Of a person: holding a legally hereditary title or rank.

adj

Of a disease or trait: passed from a parent to offspring in the genes.

adj

Of a ring: such that all submodules of projective modules over the ring are also projective.

adj

Of a property of graphs: such that if G has the property, so must every induced subgraph of G.

noun

A hereditary ruler; a hereditary peer in the House of Lords.

Example Sentences

"Duke is a hereditary title which was created in Norman times."
"hereditary rulers"
"Haemophilia is hereditary in his family."
"Xanthuria is an hereditary disorder in which there is an absence of the enzyme xanthine oxidase which interferes with the metabolic breakdown of purines, leading to an increased excretion of xanthine in the urine and to formation of stones."

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English hereditarie, from Latin hērēditārius, from hērēditās (“inheritance”), from hērēs (“heir”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *ǵʰeh₁-, hereditarie, hērēditārius

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /həˈɹɛdɪˌtɛɹi/
British English: /həˈɹɛdɪt(ə)ɹi/

Inflected Forms

more hereditary (comparative) most hereditary (superlative) hereditaries (plural)

Derived Forms

hereditarian hereditarily hereditariness nonhereditary semihereditary unhereditary

Phrases

Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy hereditary disease hereditary elliptocytosis hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia hereditary mechanics hereditary peer Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy

Frequently Paired Words

heir congenital

Synonyms

lineal inhereditary ancestral patrimonial transmissible familial genetic inherited transmitted

Antonyms

nonhereditary