the.com/primogeniture
Being born first and inheriting everything, because fairness was never the point.
means The legal right of the firstborn child — historically the eldest son — to inherit the family's entire estate, title, or throne, leaving younger siblings with little or nothing.
from From Latin primo ("first") plus genitura ("birth," from gignere, "to beget") — literally "firstbornness." The word itself is a fairly sober Latin compound, but the custom it names shaped centuries of European inheritance law, keeping noble estates and titles intact by passing them whole to one heir rather than splitting them among many — which is precisely why so many younger sons of history ended up joining the army, the church, or the nearest available colony.
- origin
- latin primus plus genitura, first-born
- medieval use
- kept estates whole instead of splitting among kids
- royal fallout
- younger sons became crusaders or clergy, out of options
- uk law
- crown succession dropped male preference only in 2013