mid-14c., "property of the Church," also "spiritual legacy of Christ," from Old French patremoine "heritage, patrimony" (12c.) and directly from Latin patrimonium "a paternal estate, inheritance from a father," also figurative, from pater (genitive patris) "father" (see father (n.)) + -monium, suffix signifying action, state, condition. Meaning "property inherited from a father or ancestors" is attested from late 14c. Figurative sense of "immaterial things handed down from the past" is from 1580s. A curious sense contrast to matrimony.
实用例句
1. In the 1930's, The National Trust began its campaign to save Britain's patrimony of threatened country houses.
20世纪30年代，全国名胜古迹托管协会开始行动起来拯救英国面临威胁的文物级乡村宅第。
来自柯林斯例句
2. I left my parents' house, relinquished my estate and my patrimony.
我离开了父母的家，放弃了我的房产和祖传财产。
来自辞典例句
3. They maintained a superior legal position and imposed traditional notions of patrimony.
男性拥有较优势的法令地位,并受益于有继承家业的传统观念.
来自互联网
4. Gambling has come to the rescue of China's cultural patrimony.
