lineal

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, was a lineal descendant of the Marshall Plan and an embodiment of soft power.

From Salon • Aug. 16, 2025

Such research can rediscover people’s names and families to possibly identify any living lineal descendants, as well as inform repatriation claims made by self-identified descendant communities.

From Science Magazine • Jan. 23, 2024

Some tribes ask potential members to show lineal descent, meaning an ancestor who was a registered member.

From Washington Post • Nov. 1, 2022

The 1990 federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires federally funded institutions, such as universities, to return Native American remains and cultural items to lineal descendants, tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 11, 2022

The Voyager spacecraft are the lineal descendants of those sailing-ship voyages of exploration, and of the scientific and speculative tradition of Christiaan Huygens.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan