MEANING:
noun:
1. The state of being the firstborn or eldest child in a family.
2. The right of succession and inheritance belonging to the firstborn child.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin primus (first) + gignere (to beget). Not to be confused with primogenitor. Earliest documented use: 1500.
USAGE:
"Primogeniture! I remembered that, from History 1A. But to hear of this law in reality, in this century, struck me. How could they give all this to one child, leaving the other three without?"
Marjorie Leet Ford; The Diary of an American Au Pair; Anchor Books; 2011.
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