Inherit

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪnˈhÉ›rɪt/
• Rhymes: -É›rɪt

Origin

Old French enheriter, from Late Latin inhereditare ("make heir").

Full definition of inherit

Verb

1. (transitive) To take possession of as a right (especially in Biblical translations).
   Your descendants will inherit the earth.
2. (transitive) To receive (property or a title etc), by legal succession or bequest after the previous owner's death.
• 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 5, ‘It's rather like a beautiful Inverness cloak one has inherited. Much too good to hide away, so one wears it instead of an overcoat and pretends it's an amusing new fashion.’
3. After Grandad died, I inherited the house.
4. (transitive, biology) 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. (intransitive) To come into an inheritance.
   Lucky old Daniel – his grandfather died rich, and he's inherited.
7. (computing, programming, transitive) To derive (existing functionality) from a superclass.
   ModalWindow inherits all the properties and methods of Window.
8. (computing, programming, transitive) To derive a new class from (a superclass).
• 2006, Daniel Solis, Illustrated C# 2005For example, the following two code segments, from different assemblies, show how easy it is to inherit a class from another assembly.
9. (transitive, obsolete) To put in possession of.

Usage notes

Do not confuse with inherent.

Derived terms

• inheritable
• inheritance
• inherited
• inheritor