pedigree

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman pé de grue, a variant of Old French pié de gru (“foot of a crane”), from Latin pes (“foot”) + grus (“crane”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛ.dɪ.ɡɹi/

Noun

pedigree (countable and uncountable, plural pedigrees)

1. A chart, list, or record of ancestors, to show breeding, especially distinguished breeding. [from 15th c.]
2. A person's ancestral history; ancestry, lineage. [from 15th c.]
3. (uncountable) Good breeding or ancestry. [from 15th c.]
4. The history or provenance of an idea, custom etc. [from 16th c.]
   • 2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The Origins of Sex, Penguin 2013, p. 33:

     This connection between sexual and spiritual impurity had an immense pedigree.

5. The ancestry of a domesticated animal, especially a dog or horse. [from 17th c.]

Adjective

pedigree (comparative more pedigree, superlative most pedigree)

1. Having a pedigree.
2. Purebred.

Verb

pedigree (third-person singular simple present pedigrees, present participle pedigreeing, simple past and past participle pedigreed)

1. (transitive) To determine the pedigree of (an animal).

See also

• genealogy

Noun

pedigree m (plural pedigrees)

1. pedigree (chart of ancestors, showing the breed of an animal)

Adjective

pedigree (plural pedigree, comparable)

1. purebred; pedigree

Noun

pedigree m (plural pedigrees)

1. pedigree