genealogy

 
Pronunciation: /dʒiːnɪˈalədʒi, dʒɛn-/

noun (plural genealogies)

  • a line of descent traced continuously from an ancestor: the genealogies of the kings of Mercia
  • [mass noun] the study and tracing of lines of descent.
  • a plant’s or animal’s line of evolutionary development from earlier forms.

Derivatives

genealogist

noun

genealogize

(also genealogise) verb

Origin:

Middle English: via Old French and late Latin from Greek genealogia, from genea 'race, generation' + -logia (see -logy)