pedigree Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the descendants of one individual
    lineage; parentage; descent; bloodline; ancestry; stemma; blood; line; stock; line of descent; origin; blood line.
    • his entire lineage has been warriors
  2. noun line of descent of a purebred animal
  3. noun ancestry of a purebred animal
    bloodline.
  4. adjective satellite having a list of ancestors as proof of being a purebred animal
    thoroughbred; pedigreed; pureblood; pureblooded.

WordNet

Ped"i*gree noun
Etymology
Of unknown origin; possibly fr. F. par degrés 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.
Definitions
  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. (Stock Breeding) A record of the lineage or strain of an animal, as of a horse.

Webster 1913