pedigreen.[Of unknown origin; possibly fr. F. par degrs by degrees, -- for a pedigree is properly a genealogical table which records the relationship of families by degrees; or, perh., fr. F. pied de grue crane's foot, from the shape of the heraldic genealogical trees.]1. A line of ancestors; descent; lineage; genealogy; a register or record of a line of ancestors.()Alterations of surnames . . . have obscured the truth of our pedigrees. (Camden.)His vanity labored to contrive us a pedigree. (Milton.)I am no herald to inquire of men's pedigrees. (Sir P. Sidney.)The Jews preserved the pedigrees of their tribes. (Atterbury.)2. (Stock Breeding) A record of the lineage or strain of an animal, as of a horse.()