Webster's English Dictionary

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heredity

he.red.i.ty \h*-'red-*t-e-\ n [MF heredite`, fr. L hereditat-, hereditas, 
   fr. hered-], heres heir - more at HEIR 1a: INHERITANCE  1b: TRADITION  2a: 
   the sum of the qualities and potentialities genetically derived from on e's 
   ancestors 2b: the transmission of qualities from ancestor to descendant 
   through a mec hanism lying primarily in the chromosomes of the germ cells