adj.1 (of disease, instinct, etc.) able to be passed down from one generation to another.
2 a descending by inheritance. b holding a position by inheritance.
3 the same as or resembling what one's parents had (a hereditary hatred).
4 of or relating to inheritance.
Derivatives:
hereditarily adv. hereditariness n.
Etymology: L hereditarius (as HEREDITY)