legitimate family succession; direct lineage
Formal or literary term referring to the unbroken, legitimate line of descent within a family, especially in contexts of inheritance or succession.
This family is a prestigious house that has continued through legitimate succession.
There is a tradition of valuing the direct family lineage.
Alternate spelling without the iteration mark; less common but still valid.
Reduplication of 嫡 (ちゃく, 'legitimate heir') for emphasis, indicating an unbroken line of legitimate descent. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the form is used in formal or literary Japanese.