Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Heredity \He*red"i*ty\, n. [L. hereditas heirship.] (Biol.)
   Hereditary transmission of the physical and psychical
   qualities of parents to their offspring; the biological law
   by which living beings tend to repeat their characteristics
   in their descendants. See {Pangenesis}.

Source : WordNet®

heredity
     n 1: the biological process whereby genetic factors are
          transmitted from one generation to the next
     2: the total of inherited attributes [syn: {genetic endowment}]