male line
Descent through fathers
The male line is ancestry traced through fathers only—from a man to his father to his grandfather and so on.
Royal succession often followed the male line, excluding women from inheriting thrones.
The estate passes through the male line.
Genealogists distinguish male-line descent from the female line (through mothers) and from descent through both parents.
- patrilinealTraced through fathers
- paternalOf or from father
- ancestryFamily line of descent
- bloodlineAncestry through generations
- descentDownward slope or lineage
family tree · surname · family name · inheritance · heir · dynasty · royal house · father · son · like father like son · grandson · primogeniture · pedigree · blood relative · next of kin · genealogy · clan · tribe
- lineageancestry, royal dynasties, bloodline, noble houses, dynasty
- paternal lineagepatrilineage, patriarch, paterfamilias, forefather, progenitor
- kinshipmother, father, sister, brother, children
male linefemale line
Maternal descent path
matrilineage · maternal line · matrilineal · mother's line · mother's side
male, line, males, maleness, lines, lined, lining, liner, liners