# inherit

Pronunciation: say "in-HE-rit" /ɪnˈhɛɹɪt/

## Verb

1. To receive property, a title, or other possessions through legal succession or a will after the previous owner dies.
   - Simple: To get money, property, or a title from someone after they die.
   - _Under the terms of the will, the eldest son will inherit the entire estate._
   - _When the duke died, his nephew inherited both the lands and the title._
2. To receive a physical or behavioral characteristic from one's ancestors through genetic transmission.
   - Simple: To get a feature, like eye color, from your parents through their genes.
   - _Many people inherit a predisposition to certain diseases from their parents._
   - _He inherited his grandfather's tall frame and broad shoulders._
3. To receive something, such as a situation or condition, from people or circumstances that came before.
   - Simple: To get something, like a problem or a situation, that was left by people before you.
   - _The incoming administration inherited an economy on the brink of recession._
   - _New employees often inherit workflows and habits from their predecessors._
4. To come into possession of money or property by way of an inheritance.
   - Simple: To receive money or property after someone dies.
   - _She was overjoyed to learn that she would inherit after all._
   - _The cousins each inherited a share of the family estate._
5. To take possession of something as a right that belongs to one.
   - Simple: To take and own something that is yours by right.
   - _The meek shall inherit the earth._
   - _According to the prophecy, the chosen people would inherit the land flowing with milk and honey._
6. To derive existing functionality, such as methods and properties, from a superclass.
   - Simple: In computer programming, to get features and behavior from a parent class.
   - _In object-oriented languages, a subclass can inherit methods and fields from its superclass._
   - _The derived class inherited the validation logic defined in its base class._
7. To derive a new class from an existing superclass, basing the new class on it.
   - Simple: In computer programming, to make a new class that is built from an existing one.
   - _To add specialized behavior, developers often inherit a general-purpose base class._
   - _The team chose to inherit the existing controller class rather than rewrite it._

## Verb

8. To put someone in possession of property or rights. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To give someone ownership of land or property.

## Origin

This word comes through Middle English enheriten from Old French enheriter, which came from Late Latin inhereditare meaning "to make heir." It replaced the native Old English word ierfan.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/inherit (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).