inherit

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle English enheriten, from Old French enheriter, from Late Latin inhereditare (“make heir”). Displaced native Old English ierfan.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ɪnˈhɛɹɪt/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛɹɪt

Verb

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inherit (third-person singular simple present inherits, present participle inheriting, simple past and past participle inherited)

  1. (transitive) To receive (property, a title, etc.), by legal succession or bequest after the previous owner's death.
    Antonyms: bequeath, leave
    After Grandad died, I inherited the house.
    1. (intransitive) To come into an inheritance.
      Lucky old Daniel – his grandfather died rich, and he's inherited.
  2. (transitive) To take possession of as a right (especially in Biblical translations).
    Your descendants will inherit the earth.
  3. (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.
  4. (transitive) To derive from people or conditions previously in force.
    This country has inherited an invidious class culture.
  5. (computing, programming, transitive) To derive (existing functionality) from a superclass.
    ModalWindow inherits all the properties and methods of Window.
  6. (computing, programming, transitive) To derive a new class from (a superclass).
    • 2006, Daniel Solis, Illustrated C# 2005:
      For example, the following two code segments, from different assemblies, show how easy it is to inherit a class from another assembly.
  7. (transitive, obsolete) To put in possession of.

Usage notes

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Derived terms

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Translations

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