Pedigree \Ped"i*gree\, n. [Of unknown origin; possibly fr. F. par degr['e]s by degrees, -- for a pedigree is properly a genealogical table which records the relationship of families by degrees; or, perh., fr. F. pied de grue crane's foot, from the shape of the heraldic genealogical trees.]

1. A line of ancestors; descent; lineage; genealogy; a register or record of a line of ancestors.

Alterations of surnames . . . have obscured the truth of our pedigrees. --Camden.

His vanity labored to contrive us a pedigree. --Milton.

I am no herald to inquire of men's pedigrees. --Sir P. Sidney.

The Jews preserved the pedigrees of their tribes. --Atterbury.

2. (Stock Breeding) A record of the lineage or strain of an animal, as of a horse.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)