primogeniture
/ˌprʌɪmə(ʊ)ˈdʒɛnɪtʃə/ noun
Forms primogenitures
- noun The state of being the firstborn of the children of the same parents.
- noun The principle that the eldest child has an exclusive right of inheritance.
- noun (countable) An instance of such a right of inheritance, established by custom or law.
Antonyms
Etymology
From French, from Late Latin primogenitura, from Latin primus (“first”) + genitura (“birth”) (from genitus, past participle of gignere).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The state of being the firstborn of the same parents; seniority by birth among children of the same family.
- noun The exclusive right of inheritance which belongs to the eldest son. Thus in England the right of inheriting the estate of the father belongs to the eldest son, and in the royal family the eldest son of the sovereign is entitled to the throne by primogeniture. In exceptional cases, among the female children, the crown descends by right of primogeniture to the eldest daughter only and her issue.
Etymology [LL., fr. L. primus first + genitura a begetting, birth, generation, fr. genere, gignere, to beget: cf. F. primogéniture, L. primogenitus firstborn. See Prime, a., and Genus, Kin.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “primogeniture”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details