Definition of genealogy
genealogies
1 : an account of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or from older forms
2 : regular descent of a person, family, or group of organisms from a progenitor (see progenitor 1) or older form : pedigree
3 : the study of family ancestral lines
4 : an account of the origin and historical development of something
People Are Reading
Examples of genealogy in a Sentence
They've been researching their genealogies.
has a distinguished genealogy that traces back to William the Conqueror
Recent Examples of genealogy from the Web
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A receipt is a biography that must be revived in the kitchen to truly be told again, to truly become a link in culinary genealogy.
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The miniseries, which traced Haley’s genealogy back to the Gambia, spurred many African Americans to start tracing their own ancestries.
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Study Your Roots: The Chagrin Falls Historical Society is offering a workshop on genealogy 3-5 p.m. Saturday, July 15 at its headquarters, 87 East Washington St. in Chagrin Falls.
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Just for funsies, Ancestry.com offered their genealogy services to the cast of Turn: Washington's Spies to determine whether any of the stars had Revolutionary War connections.
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Because surnames for former slaves were so fluid and not set on any particular laws or rules, determining a surname during and after slavery is often the most challenging aspect of African-American genealogy.
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Mr. Warner's hobbies included managing his stock portfolio, genealogy, antiques collecting, metal detecting and Civil War history.
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Mrs. Dockens delved into her family’s genealogy and the history of the church.
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Julie is the president of a national genealogy organization and a board member for the Patrons of the Prado in Balboa Park.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'genealogy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of genealogy
Middle English genealogie, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin genealogia, from Greek, from genea race, family + -logia -logy; akin to Greek genos race
Other Anthropology Terms
GENEALOGY Defined for English Language Learners
genealogy
playDefinition of genealogy for English Language Learners
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: the study of family history
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: the history of a particular family showing how the different members of the family are related to each other
GENEALOGY Defined for Kids
genealogy
playDefinition of genealogy for Students
genealogies
1 : a line of ancestors of a person or family or a history of such a line of ancestors
2 : the study of family lines of ancestors
Learn More about genealogy
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for genealogy Spanish Central: Translation of genealogy Nglish: Translation of genealogy for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of genealogy for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about genealogy
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