inherit

[in-her-it]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR inherit ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to take or receive (property, a right, a title, etc.) by succession or will, as an heir: to inherit the family business.

to receive as if by succession from predecessors: the problems the new government inherited from its predecessors.

to receive (a genetic character) by the transmission of hereditary factors.

to succeed (a person) as heir.

to receive as one's portion; come into possession of: to inherit his brother's old clothes.

verb (used without object)

to take or receive property or the like by virtue of being heir to it.

to receive qualities, powers, duties, etc., as by inheritance (followed by from).

to have succession as heir.

Origin of inherit

1275–1325; Middle English en(h)erit(i)en < Middle French enheriter < Late Latin inhērēditāre to make heir. See in-³, hereditary

Related formshalf-in·her·it·ed, adjectivenon·in·her·it·ed, adjectivepre·in·her·it, verb (used with object)qua·si-in·her·it·ed, adjectivere·in·her·it, verbun·in·her·it·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for inherit

derive, receive, acquire, obtain, succeed, accede, get

Examples from the Web for inherit

Contemporary Examples of inherit

Simon did not expect to inherit, and in a way he never really did.
Drawing Room Coup at Brideshead House Forces Out Simon And Becci Howard
Tom Sykes
November 24, 2014
This demographic reality means that whoever wins the suburban vote in 2016 and beyond will inherit the political future.
The Progressives’ War on Suburbia
Joel Kotkin
November 16, 2014
Having said that, leadership is not a birth right that you inherit and it just keeps going.
Transcript: Thomas Friedman Interviews Hillary Clinton and Christine Lagarde
April 5, 2014
The anti-evolutionists were as humiliated in this performance as they were in Inherit the Wind.
Creationism’s Latest Trojan Horse Edges Toward Virginia Schools
Karl W. Giberson
January 19, 2014
For good and ill, they will inherit the world their elders made for them.
Why Youth Is Revolting Against Obama (Hint: It’s Not Just Obamacare)
Nick Gillespie
November 20, 2013

Historical Examples of inherit

The false cannot inherit the true nor the unclean the lovely.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
No one remained to inherit their good name and little fortune.
The Roof of France
Matilda Betham-Edwards
They do not buy it; they do not conquer it, but they inherit it.
Pax Vobiscum
Henry Drummond
Your father is not an old man; he may marry again, and have a son to inherit his wealth.
Henry Dunbar
M. E. Braddon
You will inherit a very good practice and a comfortable fortune.
Henry Dunbar
M. E. Braddon

British Dictionary definitions for inherit

inherit

verb -its, -iting or -ited

to receive (property, a right, title, etc) by succession or under a will

(intr) to succeed as heir

(tr) to possess (a characteristic) through genetic transmission

(tr) to receive (a position, attitude, property, etc) from a predecessor

Derived Formsinherited, adjectiveinheritor, nouninheritress or inheritrix, fem n

Word Origin for inherit

C14: from Old French enheriter, from Late Latin inhērēditāre to appoint an heir, from Latin hērēs heir

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for inherit

c.1300, "to make (someone) an heir," from Old French enheriter "make heir, appoint as heir," from Late Latin inhereditare "to appoint as heir," from Latin in- "in" (see in- (2)) + hereditare "to inherit," from heres (genitive heredis) "heir" (see heredity). Sense of "receive inheritance" arose mid-14c.; original sense is retained in disinherit. Related: Inherited; inheriting.

inherit in Medicine

inherit

[ĭn-hĕr′ĭt]

v.

To receive a trait from one's parents by genetic transmission.