inherited

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of inherit.

   He inherited a fortune after his father's death.

   The museum inherited an entire collection from a private donor.

   Note

   One spelling does double duty: it is the simple past (she inherited the house) and the participle behind perfect and passive forms (has inherited, was inherited). It carries every meaning of inherit, from legal succession to genetic traits. Programmers also use it of a class that takes existing functionality from its superclass. Before a noun, the same form works as an adjective, as in money left to an heir.

2. 2
   adjective

   Received as part of an inheritance, such as money, property, or possessions left by someone who has died.

   The inherited estate had been in the family for generations.

   Much of the museum's silver is inherited rather than purchased.

   Similarancestral, hereditary

   Oppositeearned, acquired

   Note

   The noun that follows decides which adjective is meant. Inherited money or land came by will or succession, while an inherited disease points to the genetic sense. In both uses the word is not comparable, because a thing either is inherited or it is not. Avoid "more inherited" and use a qualifier such as largely or partly instead.

3. 3
   adjective

   Passed genetically from parents to their offspring.

   The disorder is inherited and tends to appear in every generation.

   Many physical features, like height, are partly inherited.

   Similarhereditary, genetic, inborn, innate

   Oppositeacquired

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