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DictionarystockAncestry
noun

stock

The family or breeding line from which someone or something descends.

The seedlings come from hardy stock.

Etymology
stockOld Englishtrunk; post

The tree trunk supplies a metaphor for ancestry. A family or breeding line grows from its stock as branches grow from a common trunk.

More examples

  • She traced the family to farming stock.
  • The breeder chose plants from different stocks.
  • The account described people of the same ancestral stock.

Forms

stock · stocks

Similar words

lineage
A line of descent.
strain
A particular inherited line within a plant or animal group.