From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprimogeniturepri‧mo‧gen‧i‧ture /ˌpraɪməʊˈdʒenətʃə $ -moʊˈdʒenətʃər/ noun [uncountable] law SCLthe system by which property that is owned by a man goes to his oldest son after his death
Examples from the Corpus
primogeniture• But despite its drawbacks, primogeniture did offer a rule of thumb that commanded widespread respect.• It implied, first, primogeniture amongst males, i.e. inheritance by the eldest son, if there was one.• The practice of primogeniture was a good way to keep wealth-and its polygamy potential-intact through the generations.• In a kind of republican primogeniture, autocratic leaders groom their sons to succeed them.• So primogeniture was not automatically accepted; and where it was, it could create problems of a rather different sort.• At this time heirs were not selected exclusively through primogeniture, but by election.Origin primogeniture (1600-1700) Late Latin primogenitura, from Latin primus ( → PRIME1) + genitura “birth” 