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.

---

Other Word Forms

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

His wife passed away unexpectedly a little over three years ago, and he inherited her share of everything.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026

Kendrick Lamar and SZA may have formally kicked off the Luther Vandross revival, but Giveon has inherited it, especially on his latest 2025 LP “Beloved.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

Earlier estimates suggested that inherited factors explained about 20 to 25 percent of lifespan differences, and some large studies even placed the number below 10 percent.

From Science Daily • Apr. 13, 2026

He poured money into encouraging couples to have more children, but by 2025, the fertility rate had fallen back to 1.31 - the same number he inherited from the Socialists in 2010.

From BBC • Apr. 12, 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