inherit
[in-her-it]
- 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.
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- 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.
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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for inheriting
Contemporary Examples
But our democratic prejudice against origins and breeding makes us deeply skeptical even of inheriting life goals.
Speaking from his home in Tryon, N.C., Reid, 63, discussed the challenges that came with inheriting such a huge project.
The Final Roar: Paul Reid on Finishing William Manchester’s Life of ChurchillKevin Canfield
November 16, 2012
He also is inheriting a shrinking staff hurt by layoffs and furloughs.
And in much of the world laws that bar women from owning land or inheriting property keep women from accessing financial services.
Which surprised even me, since I figured if there's anything Republicans ought to be good at, it's inheriting things.
Historical Examples
Let there be no inheriting of rights but from such a parent.
ScaramoucheRafael Sabatini
"And which doubtless some other had calculated on inheriting," said the youth.
The Fortunes Of GlencoreCharles James Lever
How, then, is he to blame mankind for inheriting "sinfulness" from their first parents?
Elsie VennerOliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Nobody ever heard of inheriting anything but money when I was a girl.
VirginiaEllen Glasgow
It struck him that his chance of inheriting was not so very obscure, after all.
Rhoda Fleming, CompleteGeorge Meredith
inherit
- 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
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Word Origin
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 inheriting
inherit
v.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
inherit
(ĭn-hĕr′ĭt)- To receive a trait from one's parents by genetic transmission.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.