genealogy
noun
ge·ne·al·o·gy
ˌjē-nē-ˈä-lə-jē 
also
-ˈa-lə-
also ˌje-nē-
plural 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 sense 1) or older form : pedigree
3
: the study of family ancestral lines
4
: an account of the origin and historical development of something
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 on the Web
Capri, on the other hand, has a much shorter genealogy.
—
Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2025
How Are Cory Booker and RuPaul Related? Booker and RuPaul first learned they were related during an episode of the PBS genealogy series Finding Your Roots in October 2020.
—Lee Habeeb, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Apr. 2025
Forensic investigative genetic genealogy can potentially find more distant relatives, according to Wiebe.
—Kate Linderman, Kansas City Star, 1 Apr. 2025
The paper proceeds to paste together a transhistorical collage of names (Aristotle, Carl Linnaeus, Giovanni Morelli, Giorgio Vasari) in the service of the idea that partnership between the arts and science (both undefined) has an illustrious genealogy.
—Sonja Drimmer, Artforum, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for genealogy
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Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2025
How Are Cory Booker and RuPaul Related? Booker and RuPaul first learned they were related during an episode of the PBS genealogy series Finding Your Roots in October 2020.
—Lee Habeeb, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Apr. 2025
Forensic investigative genetic genealogy can potentially find more distant relatives, according to Wiebe.
—Kate Linderman, Kansas City Star, 1 Apr. 2025
The paper proceeds to paste together a transhistorical collage of names (Aristotle, Carl Linnaeus, Giovanni Morelli, Giorgio Vasari) in the service of the idea that partnership between the arts and science (both undefined) has an illustrious genealogy.
—Sonja Drimmer, Artforum, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for genealogy
Cite this Entry
“Genealogy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genealogy. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
genealogy
noun
ge·ne·al·o·gy
ˌjē-nē-ˈäl-ə-jē
ˌjen-ē-
ˌjen-ē-
-ˈal-
plural genealogies
1
: the 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
genealogist
noun
-ˈäl-ə-jəst
-ˈal-
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