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PEDIGREE
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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.