genealogical
- 01 C1 Advanced
relating to the study of family history and the line of ancestors that a person comes from.
relating to the study or investigation of ancestry and family histories.
Simple“She spent years doing genealogical research to find out where her great-grandparents lived.”
In context“The archive contains extensive genealogical records, including birth certificates and ship manifests dating back to the mid-nineteenth century.”
UsageUsually precedes the noun it modifies, such as 'research', 'records', or 'tree'.
Synonymsancestrallineal - 02 C2 Proficiency
describing how languages or species are related because they come from the same original group.
relating to the shared membership in a linguistic family or the genetic relationships among individuals within a species.
Simple“Scientists looked at the genealogical links between different types of birds in the region.”
In context“Historical linguists use the comparative method to establish genealogical relationships between languages that share a common ancestor.”
UsageUsed in biology and linguistics to denote descent from a common source rather than shared characteristics.
Synonymsgeneticphyletic
“The team made the discovery using a new method that examines hundreds of present-day human genomes and reconstructs ancient genealogical connections among their DNA sequences.”
“Detailed genealogical records suggest Mary Randolph was a sixth-generation descendent of Indigenous American Pocahontas.”
From French généalogique + -al, equivalent to genealogy + -ical.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.