filiation

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the relationship of a child to a parent, especially as legally or genealogically established

   The court examined the birth record to determine the child's filiation.

2. 2
   noun

   descent or derivation through a line of development

   The scholar traced the filiation of the modern theory through several earlier works.

Borrowed from French filiation, from Late Latin filiatio, built on Latin filius ("son") and filia ("daughter"). The literal parent-child relation broadened to intellectual, linguistic, and historical lines of descent.

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