inherit
Americanverb (used with object)
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inherits,
present (3rd person singular)
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inherited,
past participle, past
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inheriting
present participle
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to take or receive (property, a right, a title, etc.) by succession or will, as an heir.
to inherit the family business.
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to receive as if by succession from predecessors.
the problems the new government inherited from the previous administration.
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to receive (a genetic character or trait) by the transmission of hereditary factors.
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to succeed (a person) as heir.
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to receive as one's portion; come into possession of.
to inherit his brother's old clothes.
verb (used without object)
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inherits,
present (3rd person singular)
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inherited,
past participle, past
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inheriting
present participle
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to take or receive property or the like by virtue of being heir to it.
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to receive qualities, powers, duties, etc., as by inheritance (followed byfrom ).
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to have succession as heir.
verb
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to receive (property, a right, title, etc) by succession or under a will
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(intr) to succeed as heir
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(tr) to possess (a characteristic) through genetic transmission
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(tr) to receive (a position, attitude, property, etc) from a predecessor
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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inheritornoun
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inheritressnoun
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reinheritverb
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preinheritverb (used with object)
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inheritedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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inheritsimple
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inheritssimple
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have inheritedperfect
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has inheritedperfect
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am inheritingprogressive
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are inheritingprogressive
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is inheritingprogressive
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have been inheritingperfect progressive
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has been inheritingperfect progressive
Past
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inheritedsimple
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had inheritedperfect
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was inheritingprogressive
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were inheritingprogressive
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had been inheritingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of inherit
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English en(h)erit(i)en, from Middle French enheriter, from Late Latin inhērēditāre “to make heir”; see in- 3, hereditary
Explanation
When your grandmother dies, you might inherit her tea set. Regardless of her death, you might inherit her sense of humor or rather large nose. To inherit is to receive from a predecessor. When you are talking about property, inherit is always used to describe something you get after someone else has died. However, there doesn't have to be a death involved to use the word inherit. When you start a new job, you might inherit less than pleasant tasks from the person who had the job before you. You might also quickly inherit their desire to find a new place to work.
Vocabulary lists containing inherit
Word Generation Science - Life Science
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Genetics - Inheritance and Variation of Traits
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Brown Girl Dreaming
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He has a pension and a few investment accounts, and he has always said he wants his daughter to inherit a chunk of his estate, and I’ve never objected to that.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 12, 2026
In a case at the High Court, Chowdhury's two brothers and sister allege that he put "undue influence" on Faijun Nessa to sign documents that meant he would inherit half of her home.
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026
Yet “there is always an inherit commissioning/ramp up risk with project of this scale,” says Kaner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2026
Gen Z and Gen Alpha deserve a glimmer of it, a reminder that they can lib out even harder as they inherit the earth.
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026
Some people inherit houses; others paintings or highly insured violin bows.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
The emergence of extraordinary traits may depend not only on which genes an organism inherits, but also on how those genes are physically arranged and connected within the cell.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
This is particularly hard to swallow if there are children who have not treated a parent well or if a second spouse inherits the lion’s share of an estate, to the detriment of the children.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
The Angel Stadium lease that Kroenke inherits requires the team name to “include the name Anaheim therein.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
"The forgery does not have to look convincing on its own. It inherits the credibility of the map it was born on," van Ess added.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
The next part of the will would read: "Whichsoever pair made the most money with the ten thousand dollars inherits the whole estate."
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
Bass’ predecessor, Eric Garcetti, stuck with Charlie Beck, the chief he inherited when he was elected in 2013; Beck was then reappointed to a second five-year term, also under Garcetti.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2026
Tim Paine inherited the captaincy, a reign that ended in his own scandal.
From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2026
Later circuits may have inherited this arrangement as they evolved, particularly in tetrapods.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2026
Related: ‘Poor people are not stupid’: I grew up in poverty, earned $14 an hour, and inherited $150,000.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026
Walter Noel had inherited two abnormal copies of the hemoglobin B gene.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
We want the intimacy of a home without necessarily inheriting all the obligations of maintaining one.
From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026
As nonspouses inheriting an IRA, the options for you and your siblings are more restricted.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 7, 2026
A bereaved man says he has been hit with a "death tax" after inheriting his mother's home.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Burnham took office in July, inheriting a sluggish economy and government debts that are close to 94% of annual economic output.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
I bet Uncle Tony and Auntie Emily—who Maddy used to call Mama Emily, which became Momly—had no idea that when they said they would be our godparents they were inheriting all this drama.
From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
