A.Word.A.Day --pedigree

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Mar 10, 2011

This week's theme
Words with hidden animals

This week's words
corniche
cynic
aegis
pedigree
gazette

The chart showing pedigrees of English and other languages of the Proto-Indo-European family

Graphic: Susana Turbitt, InterSol, Inc.

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

pedigree

PRONUNCIATION:

(PED-i-gree)

MEANING:

noun:
1. Lineage or ancestry.
2. A distinguished ancestry.
3. The origin or history of a person or thing.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Anglo-Norman pé de grue (crane's foot), from p´ (foot) + de (of) + grue (crane), from the resemblance of a crane's foot to the succession lines in a genealogical chart. Earliest documented use: 1425.

USAGE:

"Keep reading to see which dogs have the pedigree and which are fresh from the puppy mill."
David A. Keeps; The Look for Less; Los Angeles Times; Feb 22, 2011.

"Bernard James stands out with a basketball pedigree that's unique in the ACC."
Liz Clarke; Florida State's Bernard James; Washington Post; Feb 23, 2011.

See more usage examples of pedigree in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

There are more truths in twenty-four hours of a man's life than in all the philosophies. -Raoul Vaneigem, writer and philosopher (b.1934)

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