Definition of Bilineal Descent
(noun) Tracing an individual’s descent through the father’s male line and the mother’s female line.
Example of Bilineal Descent
- Children are related to their father’s father (paternal grandfather) and their mother’s mother (maternal grandmother) but not their father’s mother (paternal grandmother) or mother’s father (maternal grandfather).
Bilineal Descent Pronunciation
Syllabification: bi·lin·e·al de·scent
Audio Pronunciation
Usage Notes
- Plural: bilineal descents
- This not the same as bilateral descent.
- A type of nonunilineal descent.
- Variant spelling: bi-lineal descent
- Also called double descent.
Additional Information
- Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “descent” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- ambilineal descent
- bilateral descent
- descendant
- descent group
- extended family
- kinship
- lineage
- marriage
- nonunilineal descent
- parallel descent
- unilineal descent
Works Consulted
Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard Francis Taylor. 2011. Sociology: The Essentials. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Bruce, Steve, and Steven Yearley. 2006. The SAGE Dictionary of Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Ferrante, Joan. 2011. Sociology: A Global Perspective. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2011. Sociology: The Core. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Kimmel, Michael S., and Amy Aronson. 2012. Sociology Now. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Schaefer, Richard. 2013. Sociology: A Brief Introduction. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall. 2005. A Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Shepard, Jon M., and Robert W. Greene. 2003. Sociology and You. New York: Glencoe.
Tischler, Henry L. 2011. Introduction to Sociology. 10th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Bilineal Descent
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “bilineal descent.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 25, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/bilineal-descent/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
bilineal descent. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/bilineal-descent/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “bilineal descent.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 25, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/bilineal-descent/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“bilineal descent.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/bilineal-descent/>.