Definition of "filiation" [fil•i•a•tion]

• The condition or fact of being the child of a certain parent. (noun)
• Law Judicial determination of paternity. (noun)
• A line of descent; derivation. (noun)
• The act or fact of forming a new branch, as of a society or language group. (noun)
• The branch thus formed. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "_On the contrary, _ others, considering only the subject of filiation, which is the person or hypostasis, put only one filiation in Christ, just as there is but one hypostasis or person."
• "For some, considering only the cause of filiation, which is nativity, put two filiations in Christ, just as there are two nativities."
• "Obj. 2: Further, filiation, which is said of a man as being the son of someone, his father or his mother, depends, in a way, on him: because the very being of a relation consists _in being referred to another; _ wherefore if one of two relatives be destroyed, the other is destroyed also."