inherit

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inherit

  • /ɪnˈhɛɹɪt/

Rhymes with -ɛɹɪt

Where it comes from

From Middle English enheriten, from Old French enheriter, from Late Latin inhereditare (“make heir”). Displaced native Old English ierfan.

verb inherits · inheriting · inherited

  1. transitive To receive (property, a title, etc.), by legal succession or bequest, usually after the previous owner's death. After Grandad died, I inherited the house.

    Opposite: bequeath, leave

  2. intransitive, transitive To come into an inheritance. Lucky old Daniel – his grandfather died rich, and he's inherited.

    Opposite: bequeath, leave

  3. transitive To take possession of as a right (especially in Biblical translations). Your descendants will inherit the earth.
  4. transitive To receive a characteristic from one's ancestors by genetic transmission. Let's hope the baby inherits his mother's looks and his father's intelligence.
  5. transitive To derive from people or conditions previously in force. This country has inherited an invidious class culture.
  6. transitive To derive (existing functionality) from a superclass. ModalWindow inherits all the properties and methods of Window.
  7. transitive To derive a new class from (a superclass). For example, the following two code segments, from different assemblies, show how easy it is to inherit a class from another assembly.
  8. obsolete, transitive To put in possession of. This, or else nothing, will inherit her

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: come into, heir, heritage, inheritance, legacy, heirloom, estate, successor, predecessor, succession, succeed, succeeding, continuation, heredity, heirs, receive

Translations

Every language

verb to receive property or a title by legal succession etc.

Españolheredar
日本語受継ぐ uketsugu
Kiswahili-rithi
Portuguêsherdar
Françaishériter
Deutscherben
Italianoereditare
Ελληνικάκληρονομώ klironomó
Românămoșteni
Русскийнасле́довать naslédovatʹ, унасле́довать unaslédovatʹ
Tiếng Việtthừa kế
العربيةوَرَثَ waraṯa
עבריתיָרַשׁ yarásh

verb to come into an inheritance

Portuguêsherdar
Françaishériter
Русскийнасле́довать naslédovatʹ, унасле́довать unaslédovatʹ

verb to take possession of as a right

Españolheredar
中文承受 chéngshòu
Portuguêsherdar
Deutscherben
Italianoereditare
Ελληνικάκληρονομώ klironomó
Românămoșteni
Русскийнасле́довать naslédovatʹ, унасле́довать unaslédovatʹ

verb to receive a characteristic by genetic transmission

Españolheredar
中文遗传 yí chuán
Portuguêsherdar
Deutscherben, vererben
Italianoereditare, prendere
Ελληνικάκληρονομώ klironomó
Românămoșteni
Русскийнасле́довать naslédovatʹ, унасле́довать unaslédovatʹ

verb to derive from people or conditions previously in force

Portuguêsherdar
Ελληνικάκληρονομώ klironomó
Русскийнасле́довать naslédovatʹ, унасле́довать unaslédovatʹ

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"inherit." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/inherit. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

inherit. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/inherit

Chicago

"inherit." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/inherit.

BibTeX
@misc{inherit_2026,
  title = {inherit},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/inherit},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}