lineage

 
Pronunciation: /ˈlɪnɪɪdʒ/

noun

  • 1 [mass noun] direct descent from an ancestor; ancestry or pedigree: a Dutch nobleman of ancient lineage [count noun]: great families and their lineages
  • [count noun] Anthropology a social group tracing its descent from a single ancestor.
  • 2 Biology a sequence of species each of which is considered to have evolved from its predecessor: the chimpanzee and gorilla lineages
  • a sequence of cells in the body which developed from a common ancestral cell: the myeloid lineage

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French lignage, from Latin linea 'a line' (see line1)