pedigree buying
Only when written 系図買い
Historical practice of purchasing a fabricated or prestigious family lineage; often associated with the Edo period when commoners sought samurai status.
In the Edo period, wealthy townspeople sometimes bought pedigrees to obtain samurai status.
故買 is a more common legal term for fencing stolen goods, while 系図買い is an older or less common synonym.
Standard spelling for the 'pedigree buying' sense; also used for the 'fencing stolen goods' sense.
Alternate spelling using 窩主 (fence/receiver of stolen goods); less common.
Irregular okurigana variant of 窩主買い; rarely used.
Compound of 系図 (けいず, 'family tree/pedigree') or 窩主 (けいず, 'fence/receiver of stolen goods') and 買い (かい, 'buying'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain; the two senses may have developed independently from homophonous first elements.