Family lines or ancestry traced through generations, showing who is related to whom; also used for purebred animals.
From 'blood' (from Old English 'blod') plus 'line,' with the meaning of hereditary descent. The term became common in the Middle Ages when tracking family history mattered for inheritance and titles.
Ancient royal families were so obsessed with 'pure' bloodlines that they often married cousins, which actually caused genetic problems—today geneticists can trace historical bloodlines using DNA and find surprising family connections that records missed.
Historically used to justify patrilineal inheritance and male-only succession, enforcing women's legal erasure from family lineage despite biological contribution. Reinforced property/status transfer systems that excluded women.
When discussing lineage, acknowledge matrilineal equally; consider 'ancestry' or 'family heritage' for neutral scope.
["ancestry","family heritage","genealogy","kinship"]
Women's biological and genealogical role has been systematically written out of 'bloodline' language despite being 50% of every human line; modern genealogy reclaims matrilineal documentation.
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