PEDIGREE  , a genealogical

tree, a tabular statement of descent (see GENEALOGY) . The word first appears at the beginning of the 13th century and takes an extraordinary variety of forms,e.g. pedicree, pe de gre, petiegrew, petygru, &c . It is generally accepted that these point to a corruption of Fr. pied de grue, foot of a crane, and that the probable reference is to the marks resembling the claw of a bird found in old genealogies showing the lines of descent . Such etymologies as Minshea's par degres, by degrees, or Pere degres, descent by the father, are mere guesses .