pedigree English · revision 186
5 Oct 2026, 22:13 by bogdan “Add pronunciation, sense history, timeline, meanings, word family, related words” current version
Changes in this edit
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈpɛd.ɪ.ɡɹi/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)
+
==Etymology==
− Recorded from the early 15th century;^(Etymonline) the OED's earliest quotation is from 1410.^(OED 1989) From [[enm|pedegru]], [[bor|xno|pé de grue|t=crane's foot]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) a variant of Old French ''pied de gru'',^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) from Latin ''pēs'' “foot” + ''grūs'' “crane”.^(AHD)^(Wiktionary)
+ From [[enm|pedegru]], [[bor|xno|pé de grue|t=crane's foot]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) a variant of Old French ''pied de gru'',^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) from Latin ''pēs'' “foot” + ''grūs'' “crane”.^(AHD)^(Wiktionary)
− The name refers to a mark of three curved lines, resembling a bird's foot, used to show descent in old genealogies.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The sense is not attested in Old French,^(Etymonline) and the English form was perhaps influenced by association with [[degree]].^(Etymonline)
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A genealogical table or chart (1410).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The name refers to a mark of three curved lines, resembling a bird's foot, used to show descent in old genealogies,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) an explanation that goes back to Skeat and Sweet in the late 1800s.^(Etymonline) The sense is not attested in Old French,^(Etymonline) and the English form was perhaps influenced by association with [[degree]].^(Etymonline) The sense “ancestral line” dates from the mid-15th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and of animals from c. 1600.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The word also came to mean the origin or history of something, such as a word,^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) and in colloquial use a person's criminal record (1903).^(OED 1989) Modern French ''pédigree'' is from English.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1410 – “a genealogical table”.^(OED 1989)
+ * c. 1440 – “an ancestral line”.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1566 – “origin and succession; derivation”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1608 – of animals.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1903 – colloquial, “a criminal record”.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A line of ancestors; ancestry.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A chart or record of ancestors, especially of a purebred animal.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # Distinguished or pure ancestry.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # The origin and history of something.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Having a recorded pedigree; purebred.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[pedigreed]]
+ * [[pedigreeless]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[crane]]
+ * [[genealogy]]
+
+ ==Usage notes==
+ A ''pedigree'' is a table or chart recording a line of ancestors, especially of animals, often as proof of quality;^(RHWU) a ''genealogy'' is an account of a family's descent through a series of generations.^(RHWU)
==References==