Table of Contents
Definition of Bilateral Descent
(noun) Tracing an individual’s descent simultaneously through the father’s and mother’s line, where all ancestors by blood (consanguinity) are considered related.
Examples of Bilateral Descent
- A child is related to their mother’s or father’s brother and sister but not to their spouses.
- The Javanese people of Indonesia practice bilateral descent.
Bilateral Descent Pronunciation
Syllabification: bi·lat·er·al de·scent
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /bie-lAt-uhr-ruhl di-sEnt/
- British English – /bie-lAt-uh-ruhl di-sEnt/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /baɪˈlætərəl dɪˈsɛnt/
- British English – /baɪˈlætərəl dɪˈsɛnt/
Usage Notes
- Plural: bilateral descents
- A type of nonunilineal descent system.
- Variant spelling: bi-lateral descent
- Also called:
- bilateral descent system
- bilateral kinship
- bilateral system of descent
Additional Information
- Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “bilateral” and “descent” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- descendant
- descent
- family
- kinship
- lineage
- marriage
- matrilineal descent
- nonunilineal descent
- parallel descent
- patrilineal descent
- unilineal descent
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Cite the Definition of Bilateral Descent
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “bilateral descent.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 25, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/bilateral-descent/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
bilateral descent. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/bilateral-descent/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “bilateral descent.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 25, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/bilateral-descent/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“bilateral descent.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/bilateral-descent/>.