How to say "hereditary" in Japanese

• 先天性せんてんせいCommon
  no-adjectiveCovers 'hereditary' only in the congenital sense—a condition present from birth. This noun is used chiefly in medical language; for hereditary succession or lineage it is not the word you want.
• 先天的せんてんてきJLPT N1approx.Common
  na-adjectiveDescribes a quality as inborn, innate, or inherent—something one has from birth or by nature. For 'hereditary' in the sense of passed down through a family, this adjective really means inborn rather than inherited.
  その習慣しゅうかんは後天的こうてんてきで、先天的せんてんてきなものではない。↗

  That habit is acquired, not innate.

Both center on 'congenital'—present from birth—rather than traits passed down a family line: use the noun 先天性 in medical contexts and the adjective 先天的 to describe qualities as inborn or innate.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 先天性せんてんせいhereditary
• 先天的せんてんてきinborn
• 世伝せいでんhereditary (estates)
• 祖先伝来そせんでんらいhereditary
• 父祖伝来ふそでんらいhereditary
• 世襲的せしゅうてきhereditary
• 遺伝性いでんせいinheritable character
• 先祖代々せんぞだいだいancestral
• 遺伝的いでんてきgenetic