inherit

verb

in-HE-rit/ɪnˈhɛɹɪt/

Formsinherits, inheriting, inherited

8 meanings of inherit

Practice

1
verbtransitive
To get money, property, or a title from someone after they die.
Like getting a gift that someone leaves for you when they pass away.
She will inherit the house when her grandmother dies.
He inherited a large farm from his uncle.
Similarreceive
Oppositebequeath, leave
Note
2
verbtransitive
To get a feature, like eye color, from your parents through their genes.
Like getting your dad's nose because it was passed down to you.
Children often inherit their eye color from their parents.
She inherited her mother's curly hair.
Similarget
Note
3
verbtransitive
To get something, like a problem or a situation, that was left by people before you.
Like moving into a house and getting the mess the last people left behind.
The new mayor inherited a city deep in debt.
Each government will inherit the problems left by the one before it.
Similarreceive
Oppositeleave
Note
4
verbtransitive or intransitive
To receive money or property after someone dies.
Like being next in line to receive what a family member leaves behind.
He will inherit his father's business someday.
When the old man died, his only daughter stood to inherit.
Similarreceive
Oppositebequeath, leave
Note
5
verbtransitive
To take and own something that is yours by right.
Like finally claiming a prize that was always meant to be yours.
The faithful shall inherit the kingdom promised to them.
They were told they would inherit the land of their ancestors.
Similarpossess, receive, gain
Oppositelose, forfeit
Note
6
verbtransitive
In computer programming, to get features and behavior from a parent class.
Like a child getting habits from a parent, the new code reuses what the older code already does.
A new button class can inherit the basic behavior of a general widget class.
The child class inherited all the methods from its parent.
Note
7
verbtransitive
In computer programming, to make a new class that is built from an existing one.
Like building a new model of car using an older model as the starting point.
You can inherit a base class to reuse its code in a new one.
Many programmers inherit a standard template class when building new components.
Similarextend, subclass
Note

Less common meaning

8
verbobsoletetransitive
To give someone ownership of land or property.
This, or else nothing, will inherit her
c. 1590, William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”Here, inherit means to make someone the owner, so this will win her for him.
Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of inherit apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

It comes from Old French enheriter and Late Latin inhereditare, meaning "make heir." It replaced the older English word ierfan.