Hypertext Webster Gateway: "primogeniture"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Primogeniture \Pri`mo*gen"i*ture\ (?; 135), n. [LL., fr. L.
primus first + genitura a begetting, birth, generation, fr.
genere, gignere, to beget: cf. F. primog['e]niture, L.
primogenitus firstborn. See {Prime}, a., and {Genus}, {Kin}.]
1. The state of being the firstborn of the same parents;
seniority by birth among children of the same family.
2. (Eng. Law) The exclusive right of inheritance which
belongs to the eldest son. Thus in England the right of
inheriting the estate of the father belongs to the eldest
son, and in the royal family the eldest son of the
sovereign is entitled to the throne by primogeniture. In
exceptional cases, among the female children, the crown
descends by right of primogeniture to the eldest daughter
only and her issue. --Blackstone.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
primogeniture
n : right of inheritance belongs exclusively to the eldest son
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