The state of being the firstborn of the same parents; seniority by birth among children of the same family.
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 descends by right of primogeniture to the eldest daughter only and her issue.
a law requiring that property go to the lawful heir(s), designated as (priority order): eldest son; if eldest son dies without issue; (s.p.), then to next eldest; if no sons, then to father of deceased if still living, then to next eldest brother of deceased, etc. Example. See also Lines of Descent
The right of the eldest son to inherit the estate or office of his father. (MEDIEV-L. Medieval Terms) System of inheritance by which the first-born son succeeds to all his father's landed property. (Frame, Robin. Colonial Ireland, 1169-1369, 144)
the legal rule requiring the descent of all real property to the eldest male child unless otherwise specified
The law of the first-born. Under this law, the eldest son inherits everything on the death of his father.
(PRI·mo·GEN·i·TURE). An inheritance pattern in which land or other wealth passes from generation to generation through the first-born child, usually the eldest male, of the same parents. procurator (PROC·u·ra·tor). An official who managed the affairs of a Roman province or acted as governor of a territory, such as Judea, not having the status of a province.
right of inheritance belongs exclusively to the eldest son
condition of being the first-born child of the same parents; in law, the right of inheritance by the eldest son
a system of inheritance in which a persons property passes exclusively to the eldest (or otherwise most senior) son.
a system of inheritance by the eldest son.
The system, employed in England and elsewhere, under which the eldest son, or in default of same, the senior living male relative, succeeds to a title (a qualified system exists in European monarchies whereby the eldest daughter can succeed where there is no son, and indeed a number of Scottish Chiefs are female).
The practice (introduced by the Normans) of conferring land on the eldest son without subdivision, thereby leaving an estate intact for centuries
insures the right of the eldest son to inherit the entire estate of his parents, to the exclusion of younger sons.
the firstborn of the same parents; the exclusive right of the eldest son to inherit his father's estate
an old common-law system of inheritance whereby the oldest son inherited the father's property
The state of being the first-born or eldest child of the same parents; the right of the eldest child, especially the eldest son, to inherit the entire estate of one or both parents; this is an important theme in the Torah/Pentateuch relating to Ishmael and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, and Joseph and his brothers.
Meaning firstborn, the law of primogeniture prevented the dispersal of family property by allowing only the eldest son to inherit the entire patrimony.
Primogeniture is the common tradition of inheritance by the first-born of the entirety of a parent's wealth, estate or office; or in the absence of children, by collateral relatives, in order of seniority of the collateral line.