Lineage Meaning
/ˈlɪn.i.ɪd͡ʒ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounDescent in a line from a common progenitor; progeny; descending line of offspring or ascending line of parentage.
nounA number of lines of text in a column.
Sentence Examples
Pray, of what land or lineage should I rightly call you?
The young rabbi often brags about his lineage.
CEFR Practice Quiz
By studying old documents, the historian traced the noble family's ____ back to the 15th century.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The young prince can trace his family ____ back through many centuries of powerful kings and queens today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English linage, from Old French linage, from ligne, from Latin linea (“line”); equivalent to line + -age.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Theſe Anius Ueres [Marcus Annius Verus, father of Marcus Aurelius] was a lygnage, that auanced them to be deſcẽded [descended] of Numa Pompilio, and of Quintꝰ [Quintus] Curtius the famous Romayn: […]"
— 1531 March 20 (date written; Gregorian calendar), [Antonio de Guevara], “Of the Byrth and Lygnage of Marke Aurele Anthony Emperour”, in John Bourcher knyghte Lord Barners [i.e., John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners], transl., The Golden Boke of Marcus Aurelius Emperour and Eloquent Oratour, London: […] Thomæ Bertheleti […], published 1535, →OCLC, signature [A.iv.], verso:
"Edwards great linage by the mothers ſide, / Fiue hundred yeeres hath helde the ſcepter vp,"
— 1596, [attributed to William Shakespeare; Thomas Kyd], The Raigne of King Edward the Third: […], London: […] [T. Scarlet] for Cuthbert Burby, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:
"[…]; and therefore they were to me now no more than if they had never been of my Linage; […]"
— 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 95:
"Accept this welcome to the Spartan court; / The waſte of nature let the feaſt repair, / Then your high lineage and your names declare: / Say from what ſcepter'd anceſtry ye claim, / Recorded eminent in deathleſs fame?"
— 1725, Homer, “Book IV”, in [Elijah Fenton], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page 146:
"To counterbalance those foreign centinels^([sic]), there mounted guard on the other side of the mirror two stout warders of Scottish lineage; […]"
— 1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume II (The Bride of Lammermoor), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 301:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
By studying old documents, the historian traced the noble family's ____ back to the 15th century.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The young prince can trace his family ____ back through many centuries of powerful kings and queens today.