noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English breding, from gerund of breden
1.
a. : the action or process of bearing or generating
b. : gestation , hatching , origination , development
2. : ancestry
3. : training , education , bringing-up
she had her breeding at my father's charge — Shakespeare
4.
a. : training in the proprieties : manners
he sometimes seems like a superior interviewer and goes a little beyond good breeding — O.W.Holmes †1935
his displays of temper show him to be a person of ill breeding
b. : good manners : meticulous or habitual observance of the proprieties
5. : the propagation of plants or animals ; especially : such propagation for the purpose of improving the plants or animals (as by selection after controlled mating or, especially in plants, hybridization)
6.
a. : an instance of mating : service
b. : condition suitable for mating