CONSANGUINITY

Blood relationship; the relation of people who descend from the same ancestor.

Consanguinity is the basis of the laws that govern such matters as rules of descent and distribution of property, the degree of relation between which marriage is prohibited under the laws concerning incest, and a basis for the determination of who may serve as a witness.

Lineal consanguinity is the relation in a direct line—such as between parent, child, and grandparent. It may be determined either upward—as in the case of son, father, grandfather—or downward—as in son, grandson, great-grandson.

Collateral consanguinity is a more remote relationship describing people who are related by a common ancestor but do not descend from each other—such as cousins who have the same grandparents.

Consanguinity is not the same as affinity, which is a close relation based on marriage rather than on common ancestry.

consanguinity A consanguine relationship is a kin relationship based on descent from a common (male or female) ancestor, who may not necessarily be a blood relation. Social anthropologists point out that fictive relationships can be just as important as actual biological ties when tracing consanguinity (as is often the case with clans). A. R. Radcliffe-Brown argued that kinship is a better term than consanguinity, because it does not imply a blood relationship.

consanguinity (adj. consanguineous) A genetic relationship in which individuals share at least one ancestor in the preceding few generations. Matings between related individuals may reveal deleterious recessive alleles. For example, first-cousin marriages amongst humans account for about 18–24% of albino children and 27–53% of children with Tay-Sachs disease, both of which are rare recessive conditions.

consanguinity(adj.consanguineous) A genetic relationship in which individuals share at least one ancestor in the preceding few generations. Matings between related individuals may reveal deleterious recessive alleles. For example, first cousin marriages among humans account for about 18–24 per cent of albino children and 27–53 per cent of children with Tay–Sachs disease, both of which are rare recessive conditions.

consanguinity XIV. — L. consanguinitās, f. consanguineus of the same blood, f. CON- + sanguis, sanguin- blood; see -ITY.