inherit

[ in-her-it ]

/ ɪnˈhɛr ɪt /

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.

Nearby words

inhere, inherence, inherency, inherent, inherent immunity, inherit, inheritable, inheritance, inheritance tax, inherited character, inheritor

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 forms

half-in·her·it·ed, adjectivenon·in·her·it·ed, adjectivepre·in·her·it, verb (used with object)qua·si-in·her·it·ed, adjective

re·in·her·it, verbun·in·her·it·ed, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

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|DAILY BEAST
Secondly, a right, before any other man, to inherit with his brethren his father's goods.
Second Treatise of Government|John Locke
She expected to inherit all, and is not satisfied with the competency left to her.
The Story of Charles Strange Vol. 2 (of 3)|Mrs. Henry Wood
We don't know whether that young Weldon, who is paying her attentions just now, is going to inherit his father's money or not.
Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad|Edith Van Dyne
Why could not the excluded territory continue under the old regime, or inherit, so to speak, the old government machinery?
Fifty Years In The Northwest|William Henry Carman Folsom
The son of this union may be ambitious, imaginative, and energetic, for he may inherit all those qualities from his foreparents.
Not Guilty|Robert Blatchford

British Dictionary definitions for inherit

inherit

/ (ɪnˈhɛrɪt) /

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 Forms

inherited, 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

inherit

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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Nearby words

Origin of inherit

Related forms

Examples from the Web for inherit

British Dictionary definitions for inherit

inherit

verb -its, -iting or -ited

Derived Forms

Word Origin for inherit

Medicine definitions for inherit

inherit

v.