Porphyrogenitism

Porphyrogenitism Por`phy*ro*gen"i*tism, n. [LL. porphyro genitus, fr. Gr. ?; ? purple + root of gi`gnesqai to be born.] The principle of succession in royal families, especially among the Eastern Roman emperors, by which a younger son, if born after the accession of his father to the throne, was preferred to an elder son who was not so born. --Sir T. Palgrave. [1913 Webster]