/fil'ee ay"sheuhn/ , n.
1. the fact of being the child of a certain parent.
2. descent as if from a parent; derivation.
3. Law. the judicial determination of the paternity of a child, esp. of one born out of wedlock.
4. the relation of one thing to another from which it is derived.
5. the act of filiating.
6. the state of being filiated.
7. an affiliated branch, as of a society.
[ 1425-75; late ME filiacion filiation- (s. of filiatio ). See FILIATE, -ION ]