ródach

Ród is a Polish noun meaning lineage, clan, or family. The form rodach is the locative plural, used in phrases such as w rodach (in lineages). The concept denotes kinship tracing ancestry to a common forebear, often spanning many generations, and can be tied to heritage, property, or social status.

Historically, rody played a significant role in Poland’s social structure. Among the szlachta (nobility), lineages defined networks of kinship, marriage alliances, and political influence. Rody were frequently associated with heraldic arms (herby), and genealogical records aimed to document descent and branching within rody.

In modern scholarship and genealogy, ród remains a basic term for family line. Researchers compile rodowody (pedigrees) to reconstruct ancestry, migrations, and connections between families. The concept also appears in discussions of dynastic succession and noble estates.

Well-known dynastic rody include the Piastowie and Jagiellonowie, used in historical writing to denote ruling lines as rody rather than separate families. The term thus encompasses both historical and contemporary understandings of kin groups and their genealogical connections.

See also: rodowód, genealogia, heraldy, szlachta, Piastowie, Jagiellonowie.