Meaning and Definition of Genealogy

Definition of genealogy

The genealogy is the science dedicated to the study of the ancestors and the offspring of a family or family line. Etymologically, the term genealogy comes from the Greek language, according to which genos means descent, birth and science logos. Thus, genealogy is nothing more than the science or study of the offspring and ancestry of an individual and his participation in a broader group relates to which by blood ties.
The genealogy is a very interesting science since it has to do with the identity of a person, the knowledge of it and also its origins. As well, interested persons to know their identity or where it came from, they resort to genealogical studies that reveal not only the ancestors if not also ties with other family lines, the origin or provenance of the same, etc. Many times it is often discover unexpected information.
Although today the genealogy is not extremely important or central as science, such studies were in times in which the lineage and inheritance were matters of life and death. Here we can mention the middle ages, a stage in the history of mankind in which marital and political ties were extremely important for the destiny of a nation, by which the knowledge of them was vital. In the middle ages, on the other hand, there were monarchical forms of Government which assumed a limited access and which were organized around political relationships and inheritances coldly calculated. The few existing monarchies today are still driving by this system which, among other things, establishes that the successors to a throne are the firstborn and then the following.
Genealogy is usually taken as a graphic metaphor of its structure to the structure of a tree, and thus we find that there are family trees that represent a very abundant and varied amount of members. This is so since the tree with its branches and ramifications symbolizes extensions of links which can occur within a family as well as its complexity and abundance.