inherit

American  

[in-her-it] / ɪnˈhɛr ɪt /

verb (used with object)

1. to take or receive (property, a right, a title, etc.) by succession or will, as an heir.

   to inherit the family business.

2. to receive as if by succession from predecessors.

   the problems the new government inherited from the previous administration.

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

4. to succeed (a person) as heir.

5. to receive as one's portion; come into possession of.

   to inherit his brother's old clothes.

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verb (used without object)

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

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

3. to have succession as heir.

inherit British  

/ ɪnˈhɛrɪt /

verb

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

2. (intr) to succeed as heir

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

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

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Other Word Forms

• inherited adjective
• inheritor noun
• inheritress noun
• preinherit verb (used with object)
• reinherit verb

Etymology

Origin of inherit

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English en(h)erit(i)en, from Middle French enheriter, from Late Latin inhērēditāre “to make heir”; in- ³, hereditary

Example Sentences

It’s a study of what we inherit from our parents.

From Los Angeles Times

The disease is inherited and currently incurable, with many children dying within a few years of diagnosis.

From Science Daily

It is an inherited, rare, progressive and incurable condition.

From BBC

The couple inherited a large Cotswolds estate—with little income to sustain it.

From The Wall Street Journal

Inheriting them meant inheriting “a responsibility to them and to the people who have owned them.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• acquire
• derive
• obtain
• receive
• succeed
• take over