Definition of pedigree
1
: a register recording a line of ancestors
The pedigree traces the family back to the 18th century.
2a
: an ancestral line : lineage
That horse has an impressive pedigree.
b
: the origin and the history of something
Democracy's pedigree stretches back to ancient Greece.
broadly
: background, history
3a
: a distinguished ancestry
actions spoke louder than pedigrees in the trenches— Dixon Wecter
b
: the recorded purity of breed of an individual or strain
vouch for a horse's pedigree
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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Time Traveler for pedigree
The first known use of pedigree was in the 15th century
See more words from the same century