[syn: pedigree(a), pedigreed, pureblood, pureblooded, thoroughbred]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Pedigree \Ped"i*gree\ (p[e^]d"[i^]*gr[=e]), n. [Of unknown
origin; possibly fr. F. par degr['e]s by degrees, -- for a
pedigree is properly a genealogical table which records the
relationship of families by degrees; or, perh., fr. F. pied
de grue crane's foot, from the shape of the heraldic
genealogical trees.]
1. A line of ancestors; descent; lineage; genealogy; a
register or record of a line of ancestors.
[1913 Webster]
Alterations of surnames . . . have obscured the
truth of our pedigrees. --Camden.
[1913 Webster]
His vanity labored to contrive us a pedigree.
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
I am no herald to inquire of men's pedigrees. --Sir
P. Sidney.
[1913 Webster]
The Jews preserved the pedigrees of their tribes.
--Atterbury.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Stock Breeding) A record of the lineage or strain of an
animal, as of a horse.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
pedigree
adj 1: having a list of ancestors as proof of being a purebred
animal [syn: pedigree(a), pedigreed, pureblood,
pureblooded, thoroughbred]
n 1: the descendants of one individual; "his entire lineage has
been warriors" [syn: lineage, line, line of descent,
descent, bloodline, blood line, blood, pedigree,
ancestry, origin, parentage, stemma, stock]
2: line of descent of a purebred animal
3: ancestry of a purebred animal [syn: pedigree, bloodline]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
33 Moby Thesaurus words for "pedigree":
Almanach de Gotha, Red Book, Royal Kalendar, Social Register,
Stammbaum, ancestry, birth, blood, bloodline, blue book,
derivation, descent, directory, extraction, family, family tree,
full-blooded, genealogical tree, genealogy, heritage, line,
line of descent, lineage, origin, parentage, pedigreed, roots,
stemma, stock, strain, studbook, thoroughbred, tree
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
PEDIGREE, descents. A succession of degrees from the origin; it is the state
of the family as far as regards the relationship of the different members,
their births, marriages and deaths; this term is applied to persons or
families, who trace their origin or descent.
2. On account of the difficulty of proving in the ordinary manner by
living witnesses, facts which occurred in remote times, hearsay evidence
(q.v.) has been admitted to prove a pedigree. 1 Phil. Ev. 186; 1 Stark. Ev.
55; 10 Serg. & Rawle, 383; 2 Supp. to Ves. jr. 110; 8 Com. Dig. 583 1 Pet.
337; 6 Pet., 81; 13 Pet. 209 1 Wheat. 6; 3 Wash. C. C. R. 243; 4
Wash.C.C.R.186; 3Bouv.Inst.n. 3067. Vide Descent; Line.
The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):
PEDIGREE, n. The known part of the route from an arboreal ancestor
with a swim bladder to an urban descendant with a cigarette.