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inheritance

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inheritance

  • /ɪnˈhɛɹɪtəns/
  • /ɪnˈhɛɹɪˌtəns/

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English enheritaunce, inheritaunce, borrowed from Anglo-Norman, Old French enheritaunce, from enheriter. By surface analysis, inherit + -ance.

noun inheritances · enheritance · enheritaunce · inheritaunce · inhæritance

  1. countable, uncountable The passing of title to an estate upon death.
  2. countable That which a person is entitled to inherit, by law or testament, such as the part of an estate (i.e., a portion).
  3. especially, uncountable The act or mechanism of inheriting; the state of having inherited. The Indo-European languages share various similarities as a result of their inheritance from a common ancestor.
  4. countable, uncountable The biological attributes passed hereditarily from ancestors to their offspring.
  5. countable, uncountable The mechanism whereby parts of a superclass are available to instances of its subclass.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: heritage, legacy, bequest, probate, intestacy, heir, inherit, estate, property, patrimony, birthright, heritability, heirloom, endowment, cleronomy, successor

Translations

Every language

noun passing of title

Españolherencia, heredad
中文繼承 /继承 jìchéng
हिन्दीउत्तराधिकार uttarādhikār
Portuguêsherança
DeutschErbschaft
Italianoeredità
Românămoștenire
Русскийнасле́дование naslédovanije

noun that which a person is entitled to inherit

Españolherencia, heredad
日本語遺産 isan
中文遺產 /遗产 yíchǎn
हिन्दीउत्तराधिकार uttarādhikār
Kiswahiliurithi, mirathi
Portuguêsherança
Françaishéritage
DeutschErbe, Erbteil
Italianoeredità
Ελληνικάκληρονομιά klironomiá
Românămoștenire
Русскийнасле́дство naslédstvo
العربيةمِيرَاث mīrāṯ, إرْثْ ʔirṯ, وِرْث wirṯ

noun biological attributes passed to offspring

Españolherencia, heredad
中文遗传 yíchuán
Kiswahiliurithi
Portuguêsherança
DeutschErbschaft
Italianoereditarietà
Românămoștenire, ereditate
Русскийнасле́дование naslédovanije

noun programming: mechanism for making parts of superclass available to subclass

Españolherencia
日本語継承 keishō
中文继承 jìchéng
Portuguêsherança
Françaishéritage
Italianoereditarietà
Românămoștenire
Русскийнасле́дование naslédovanije

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Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{inheritance_2026,
  title = {inheritance},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/inheritance},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}