Common genealogical terms

(Source : guide-généalogie.com)

Name	Definition
A
Act	Written record of a fact (civil status document) or registration of a declaration.
Adulterin	Born of an extramarital union.
Agnat, Agnatic	Ascending or descending through men. A genealogy is agnatic when it includes only men. See also Cognat.
Grandparent	Refers to the grandfather or grandmother.
Ancestors	In the plural, refers to all ancestors.
Elder	He who was born first. See also Benjamin or Eldest.
Related	Allied by marriage.
Coat of arms	Always in the plural, refers to the shield and its ornaments as a whole.
Armorial	Collection of coats of arms
Article	Archive filing unit (registers, documents, etc.).
Ascendant	A direct ancestor.
Author	Ancestor common to several branches. This term is often used for nobility.
B
Bans	Public proclamations.
Baptism	Sacrament marking the entry of a child (or adult) into the Christian life.
Benjamin	The youngest child in the family. The last born. See also Puîné or Elder.
Blazon	All the pieces that make up a heraldic shield.
B.M.S.	This abbreviation refers to the parish registers in which baptisms, marriages and burials were recorded.
Branch	Part of a family tree. For example, the paternal branch, the younger branch…
C
CA	Abbreviation of the Latin Circa, meaning around. So ca 1700 means around 1700.
Cadastre	A public register in which the surface area and value of properties were recorded for tax purposes.
Cadet	Born second. Also known as the younger branch of a family.
Cartulary	A collection of documents, charters, contracts, acts of faith and homage, donations, etc., from a family or an institution such as an abbey.
Charter	Document concerning the property and titles of a family or institution and proving its rights. The chartrier is the set of charters of the family or institution.
Cherche de feux	In Borgogna, si tratta di dichiarazioni nominali dei capifamiglia redatte in vista dell'accertamento delle imposte dirette.
Cognat – Cognatique	Ascending or descending through women. A genealogy is cognatic when it includes only women. See also Agnat.
Collateral	A relative descended from a common ancestor. Collaterals come from another branch. A cousin, for example, is a collateral.
Consanguine	Parent on the father's side. Two children from the same father but different mothers are said to be consanguineous brothers. See also Uterine.
Consanguinity	Close relationship between two spouses. See exemption from consanguinity.
Conscription	Every year, young people who have reached the age for national military service register on the military rolls.
Cote	Alphabetical and/or numerical mark used to classify archive bundles or library worksM.
First cousin	Cousin of a brother or sister of the father or mother. See the term germain.
First cousin	Cousin from a first cousin.
Cousin from a first cousin	This expression means first cousin (see above).