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by Darwin, to be the chief factor in the evolution of plants and animals, and denies the inheritance of acquired characters; -- esp. opposed to Neo-Lamarckism. Weismannism is an example of extreme Neo- Darwinism. -- Ne`o-Dar*win"i*an, a. & n.

ved, modified, and expounded by recent biologists, esp. as maintaining that the offspring inherits characters acquired by the parent from change of environment, use or disuse of parts, etc.; -- opposed of Neo-Darwinism (which see, above). -- Ne`o-La*marck"i*an, a. & n.

; patrician dignity; antiquity of family; distinction by rank, station, or title, whether inherited or conferred. I fell on the same argument of preferring virtue to nobility of blood and titles, in the story of Sigismunda. Dryden.

ransfer or sale and giving certain rights of redemption in case of change of ownership by inheritance, etc., and perhaps to other rights of the kindred or the tribe. Survivals of the early odal estates and tenure exist in Orkney and Shetland, where it is usually called by the variant form udal.

A man or woman having odal, or able to share in it by inheritance.

To act upon, or influence, unduly. [Obs.] The hope of inheritance overacts them. Milton.

Equality of condition, blood, or dignity; also, equality in the partition of an inheritance. Spelman.

The holding or occupation of an inheritable estate which descends from the ancestor to two or more persons; coheirship.

A coheir, or one of two or more persons to whom an estate of inheritance descends jointly, and by whom it is held as one estate.

ing parted; divisible; separable; susceptible of severance or partition; as, an estate of inheritance may be partible. "Make the molds partible." Bacon.

Of or pertaining to a patrimony; inherited from ancestors; as, a patrimonial estate.

By inheritance.

A right or estate inherited from one's father; or, in a larger sense, from any ancestor. "'Reave the orphan of his patrimony." Shak.

A theory which explains inheritance by the transmission of the type of growth force possessed by one generation to another.

, or descending to him by law, and distributed to him in the settlement of the estate; an inheritance. Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. Luke xv. 12.

mption; pretension. Spenser. Primogeniture can not have any pretense to a right of solely inheriting property or power. Locke. I went to Lambeth with Sir R. Brown's pretense to the wardenship of Merton College, Oxford. Evelyn.

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 d…

ge of a Roman. Kettlewell. The privilege birthright was a double portion. Locke. A people inheriting privileges, franchises, and liberties. Burke.

right to expect or to claim the performance or forbearance of a specified act. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Gal. iii. 18.

To acquire by any means except descent or inheritance. Blackstone.