primogeniture

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“
Whether primogeniture is a good or a bad thing in England or the British Colonies at the present day is of course a totally different question; the circumstances of the times are totally different.

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun The state of being the first born or eldest child of the same parents.
  2. noun Law The right of the eldest child, especially the eldest son, to inherit the entire estate of one or both parents.

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Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • The abolition of primogeniture, and equal partition of inheritances removed the feudal and unnatural distinctions which made one member of every family rich, and all the rest poor, substituting equal partition, the best of all Agrarian laws. —  Autobiography - Thomas Jefferson
  • Its rules of royal succession are based on the feudal principle of primogeniture: inheritance down the male line, in blatant contravention of our Sex Discrimination Act. If Prince Charles converted to Catholicism or had a sex-change operation, the crown would go to his male children, then to his male brothers ahead of their older female sister. —  newmatilda.com - Comments
  • The paper notes the list is not terribly scientific, however, as the rankings were arrived at merely by dividing each billionaire 's fortune by the number of children he has, without regard to age, primogeniture or other mitigating factors. —  Luxist
  • The law of primogeniture, much maligned by egalitarians, created a class of aristocrats without real titles and little money. —  THE MONARCHIST
  • Slide 21: Society and Politics • Conical clan organization: all social relations based, in part, on an idiom of hierarchy • Hierarchy based on primogeniture, which is basis of ranking kingroups into hereditary elite (anetï) and commoner (kamaga) ranks • —  Recently Uploaded Slideshows
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Late Latin prīmōgenitūra : Latin prīmō, at first (from prīmus, first; see per1 in Indo-European roots) + Latin genitūra, birth (from genitus, past participle of gignere, to beget; see genə- in Indo-European roots).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French primogéniture = Provencal Spanish Portuguese Italian primogenitura, from Middle Latin primogenitura, primogeniture, from Latin primogenita, the rights of the first-born, birthright, neuter plural of primogenitus, first-born, from primo, first, in the first place (ablative neuter of primus, first), + genitus, past participle of gignere, bring forth: see geniture.
 

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/praɪməˈdʒɛnɪtʃjur/
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