Showing Results for "inherited"

See Also:

• past tense form of inherit.
• past participle of inherit.

inherited

American  

[in-her-i-tid] / ɪnˈhɛr ɪ tɪd /

adjective

1. received from or as if from one’s predecessors.

   Their wealth is from inherited properties, mostly through the estate of their mother’s parents.

   For the novelist Henry James, history, tradition, precedence, and established forms constituted the inherited wisdom of civilization.

2. received through genetic transmission.

   the family’s inherited trait of straight blond hair;

   kidney problems symptomatic of an inherited disorder.

3. Baseball. (of a base runner) allowed on base by a previous pitcher.

   The unlucky reliever balked, hit a batter, threw a wild pitch, allowed an inherited runner to score, and got only one out.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• half-inherited
  adjective
• quasi-inherited
  adjective
• uninherited
  adjective
• noninherited
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of inherited

First recorded in 1795–1800; inherit ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

Inherited means "handed down to you by your family." If your inherited traits include your red hair, freckles, and stubbornness, it means older people in your family also have them. Something you receive from your parents, grandparents, or other family members is inherited, whether it's a personality trait or a house in the Catskills. Some things are inherited genetically, like blue eyes, and others are inherited legally, like money or property you receive as an heir when someone dies. The Latin root is inhereditare, "to appoint as heir." The meaning changed in the 14th century to "receive, to be the heir."

Example Sentences

Along with routine screening through mammography or MRI, some individuals with inherited genetic mutations that greatly increase breast cancer risk may choose preventive surgery, including prophylactic mastectomy.

From Science Daily • Jun. 6, 2026

This is the Christian tradition: questioning inherited norms, unsettling comfortable hierarchies, insisting that the ethical imagination can go further than traditional society allows.

From Salon • Jun. 5, 2026

Although legal costs surged, Feldstein Soto said she did her best to mitigate damage on a number of difficult cases she inherited when taking office in 2022.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026

McCullum runs an "informal" environment that suited the players he inherited: experienced Test cricketers who needed freedom after being stifled by Covid and a long winless run.

From BBC • Jun. 3, 2026

Auma also clearly had inherited the family brains: She’d been raised in Kenya and returned there often, but she’d gone to college in Germany and was still living there, studying for a PhD.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama