filiation

fil•i•a•tion (fil-ee-EY-shuhn)  n

Definition:
1.
  a. the condition or fact of being the child of a certain parent
  b. judicial determination of paternity
  c. the set of rules governing the attachment of children to their parents and its social consequences
2.
  a. a line of descent; derivation
  b. the relation of one thing to another from which it is derived
3.
  a. the act or fact of forming a new branch, as of a society or language group
  b. an affiliated branch, as of a society
4.
  a. the act or process of filiating
  b. the state of being filiated
filiate verb; filiated past participle; filiated past tense; filiating present participle

Origin:
 1520s, from Fr. filiation, from M.L. filiationem (nom. filiatio), noun of action from filiare "to have a child," from L. filius/filia

Related:
Synonyms: consanguinity, affiliation, affinity, agnate, blood-relationship, cognate, kin, kindred, kindredship, kinship, lineage
Related Words: affiliation, filial

Sentence Examples:
• We have had ingenious theories of the genesis of the movement, and the filiation of its ideas. - The Oxford Movement, R.W. Church

• To write, as Samuel Butler did, "Buffon planted, Erasmus Darwin and Lamarck watered, but it was Mr. Darwin who said 'That fruit is ripe,' and shook it into his lap" ... seems to us a quite misleading version of the facts of the case. The second fallacy which the historical citation is a little apt to suggest is that the filiation of ideas is a simple problem. - Evolution in Modern Thought, Ernst Haeckel et al

• Warriors, termed Kshatriyas in Sanskrit, were the earliest caste. Under the law of specialisation defence fell to the lot of adventurous spirits, whose warlike prowess gave them unlimited prestige with the peaceful masses. They became the governing element, and were able to transmit their privileges by male filiation. - Tales of Bengal, S. B. Banerjea

Sources: Free Dictionary, Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

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