# inherit
## English
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

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

### Verb

inherit (third-person singular simple present inherits, present participle inheriting, simple past and past participle inherited)
* (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.
** 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:‘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.’
** (intransitive) To come into an inheritance.
    Lucky old Daniel – his grandfather died rich, and he's inherited.
* (transitive) To take possession of as a right (especially in Biblical translations).
    Your descendants will inherit the earth.
* (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.
* (transitive) To derive from people or conditions previously in force.
    This country has inherited an invidious class culture.
* (computing, programming, transitive) To derive (existing functionality) from a superclass.
    ModalWindow inherits all the properties and methods of Window.
* (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.
* (transitive, obsolete) To put in possession of.
** c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:This, or else nothing, will inherit her

#### Usage notes

* Do not confuse with inherent.

#### Derived terms

* classical inheritance
* coinherit
* co-inherit
* coinheritance
* coinheritor
* composition over inheritance
* disinherit
* disinheritance
* disinheriting
* disinheritor
* inheritability
* inheritable
* inheritableness
* inheritably
* inheritance
* inheritance powder
* inheritance tax
* inheritee
* inheriter
* inheriting
* inheritor
* inheritour
* inheritress
* inheritrix
* misinherit
* multiple inheritance
* noninheritable
* noninheritance
* noninherited
* noninheriting
* uninheritable

#### Translations

Arabic: وَرَثَ (waraṯa)
Armenian: ժառանգել (hy) (žaṙangel)
Asturian: heredar (ast)
Bulgarian: наследявам (bg) (nasledjavam)
Catalan: heretar (ca)
Chinese: 繼承 / 继承 (zh) (jìchéng), 继承 (zh) (jìchéng)
Czech: zdědit pf, dědit impf, podědit pf
Dutch: erven (nl)
East Central German: aarm
Egyptian: (jwꜥ)
Esperanto: heredi
Finnish: periä (fi)
French: hériter (fr)
Galician: herdar (gl)
German: erben (de)
Greek: κληρονομώ (el) (klironomó)
Ancient Greek: κληρονομέω (klēronoméō)
Hebrew: יָרַשׁ (he) (yarásh)
Hungarian: örököl (hu)
Icelandic: erfa (is)
Irish: faigh le hoidhreacht
Italian: ereditare (it)
Japanese: 受継ぐ (uketsugu)
Latin: heredito
Malay: mewarisi
Norwegian: arve
Occitan: eiretar (oc)
Old English: ierfan
Oromo: dhaaluu
Polish: dziedziczyć (pl) impf, odziedziczyć (pl) pf
Portuguese: herdar (pt)
Romanian: moșteni (ro)
Russian: насле́довать (ru) impf (naslédovatʹ), унасле́довать (ru) pf (unaslédovatʹ)
Slovak: zdediť pf, dediť impf
Slovene: podedovati pf, dedovati (sl) impf
Spanish: heredar (es)
Swahili: -rithi
Swedish: ärva (sv)
Ukrainian: успадко́вувати impf (uspadkóvuvaty), успадкува́ти pf (uspadkuváty)
Vietnamese: thừa kế (vi)
Volapük: gerön (vo)
Walloon: eriter (wa)
Welsh: etifeddu (cy) :