| pedigree | 1. A line of ancestors; descent; lineage; genealogy; a register or record of a line of ancestors. "Alterations of surnames . . . Have obscured the truth of our pedigrees." (Camden) "His vanity labored to contrive us a pedigree." (Milton) "I am no herald to inquire of men's pedigrees." (Sir P. Sidney) "The Jews preserved the pedigrees of their tribes." (Atterbury) 2. A record of the lineage or strain of an animal, as of a horse. Origin: Of unknown origin; possibly fr. F. Par degres 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. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
|---|---|
| pedigree analysis | The formal study of the pattern of a trait in a pedigree to determine such properties as its mode of inheritance, age of onset, and variability in phenotype. (05 Mar 2000) |