1.
[syn: lineal, direct]
2. arranged in a line;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Lineal \Lin"e*al\ (l[i^]n"[-e]*al), a. [L. linealis belonging to
a line, fr. linea line: cf. F. lin['e]al. See 3d Line.]
1. Descending in a direct line from an ancestor; hereditary;
derived from ancestors; -- opposed to collateral; as, a
lineal descent or a lineal descendant.
[1913 Webster]
The prime and ancient right of lineal succession.
--Locke.
[1913 Webster]
2. Inheriting by direct descent; having the right by direct
descent to succeed (to).
[1913 Webster]
For only you are lineal to the throne. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
3. Composed of lines; delineated; as, lineal designs.
[1913 Webster]
4. In the direction of a line; of or pertaining to a line;
measured on, or ascertained by, a line; linear; as, lineal
magnitude.
[1913 Webster]
Lineal measure, the measure of length; -- usually written
linear measure.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
lineal
adj 1: in a straight unbroken line of descent from parent to
child; "lineal ancestors"; "lineal heirs"; "a direct
descendant of the king"; "direct heredity" [syn:
lineal, direct] [ant: collateral, indirect]
2: arranged in a line
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
69 Moby Thesaurus words for "lineal":
after, arrowlike, attendant, cadet, catenary, clannish,
consecutive, dead straight, diphyletic, direct, ensuing, ethnic,
even, family, flat, following, genealogical, genetic, gentile,
gentilic, horizontal, in a line, junior, later, level, linear,
national, ordinal, phyletic, phylogenetic, posterior, progressive,
puisne, racial, rectilineal, rectilinear, right, ruler-straight,
sequent, sequential, serial, seriate, smooth, straight,
straight-cut, straight-front, straight-side, streamlined,
subsequent, succeeding, successional, successive, totemic, tribal,
true, unbending, unbent, unbowed, unbroken, uncurved, undeflected,
undeviating, undistorted, uninterrupted, unswerving, unturned,
upright, vertical, younger
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
LINEAL. That which comes in a line. Lineal consanguinity is that which
subsists between persons, one of whom is descended in a direct line from the
other. Lineal descent, is that which takes place among lineal kindred.