Legal Definitions - patrimonial

Patrimonial (pa-trə-moh-nee-əl) is an adjective that describes something related to an inheritance, especially from a male ancestor.

• He inherited his father's patrimonial estate.
• The patrimonial tradition of passing down the family business to the eldest son was still strong in their culture.

The first example illustrates the definition by showing how the word is used to describe an inheritance from a male ancestor. The second example shows how the word can be used to describe a cultural tradition of passing down a family business from father to son.