Definitions for inheritance
ɪnˈhɛr ɪ tənsin·her·i·tance

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. inheritance, heritagenoun

   hereditary succession to a title or an office or property

2. inheritance, heritagenoun

   that which is inherited; a title or property or estate that passes by law to the heir on the death of the owner

3. inheritance, hereditary patternnoun

   (genetics) attributes acquired via biological heredity from the parents

4. inheritance, heritagenoun

   any attribute or immaterial possession that is inherited from ancestors

   "my only inheritance was my mother's blessing"; "the world's heritage of knowledge"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. inheritancenoun

   The passing of title to an estate upon death.

2. inheritancenoun

   That which a person is entitled to inherit, by law or testament.

3. inheritancenoun

   (biology) The hereditary passing of biological attributes from ancestors to their offspring.

4. inheritancenoun

   In object-oriented programming, the mechanism whereby parts of a superclass are available to instances of its subclass.

5. Etymology: Recorded since 1473, from to inherit, itself from enheriter "make heir, appoint as heir," from inhereditare "to appoint as heir," from in- "in" + hereditare "to inherit," from heres (gen. heredis) "heir".

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Inheritancenoun

   Etymology: from inherit.

   1. Patrimony; hereditary possession.

   In the book of Numbers it is writ,
   When the son dies let the inheritance
   Descend unto the daughter. William Shakespeare, Henry V.

   Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house. Gen. xxxi. 14.

   Claim our just inheritance of old. John Milton.

   Oh dear, unhappy babe! must I bequeath thee
   Only a sad inheritance of woe?
   Gods! cruel gods! can't all my pains atone,
   Unless they reach my infant's guiltless head? Smith.

   2. In William Shakespeare, possession.

   You will rather shew our general lowts
   How you can frown, than spend a fawn upon them,
   For the inheritance of their loves, and safeguard
   Of what that want might ruin. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

   3. The reception of possession by hereditary right.

   Men are not proprietors of what they have merely for themselves, their children have a title to part of it, which comes to be wholly theirs, when death has put an end to their parents use of it; and this we call inheritance. John Locke.

Wikipedia(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Inheritance

   Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officially bequeathing private property and/or debts can be performed by a testator via will, as attested by a notary or by other lawful means.

Webster Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Inheritancenoun

   the act or state of inheriting; as, the inheritance of an estate; the inheritance of mental or physical qualities

2. Inheritancenoun

   that which is or may be inherited; that which is derived by an heir from an ancestor or other person; a heritage; a possession which passes by descent

3. Inheritancenoun

   a permanent or valuable possession or blessing, esp. one received by gift or without purchase; a benefaction

4. Inheritancenoun

   possession; ownership; acquisition

5. Inheritancenoun

   transmission and reception by animal or plant generation

6. Inheritancenoun

   a perpetual or continuing right which a man and his heirs have to an estate; an estate which a man has by descent as heir to another, or which he may transmit to another as his heir; an estate derived from an ancestor to an heir in course of law

7. Etymology: [Cf. OF. enheritance.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Inheritance

   Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies. The rules of inheritance differ between societies and have changed over time. The term is also used to refer to the passing of characteristics, for example, genetically or in computing.

Matched Categories

1. • Attribute
   • Law
   • Transferred Property

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'inheritance' in Nouns Frequency: #2592

How to pronounce inheritance?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say inheritance in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of inheritance in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of inheritance in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of inheritance in a Sentence

1. Molly Ringwald:

   [The John Hughes movies] were really unique and really fun and he basically got that whole teen 'thing' in a way that nobody has gotten since, except for a movie that I really love that I think is the inheritance of John Hughes, to my mind, I think 'Eighth Grade' completely gets it. Elsie Fisher's performance is incredible. I think what it really shares with the John Hughes films is the fact that it's really funny and yet it's really moving.

2. Robert James say Smith:

   I will never forget that my path was paved by my parents, grandparents and generations of African-Americans whose names I will never know, their struggles, their courage, and their progress allowed me to strive and achieve. My story would only be possible in America, and it is incumbent on all of us to pay this inheritance forward.

3. Joan Laporta:

   And in the Spanish league we have to abide by the rules. We think they could be more flexible, but that’s not an excuse, we knew the regulation. We couldn't abide by it because of the inheritance we had.

4. United States:

   [ The Supreme Court's decision ] said that the right of citizenship is not a matter of inheritance, that it never descends from generation to generation, it is related to where you're born, the Supreme Court's about the power of place. The Supreme Court has been a very expansive, and at the time, a corrective measure to a more exclusionary definition both legally as well as culturally as to what an American is.

5. O. A. Battista:

   The best inheritance a parent can give his children is a few minutes of his time each day.

Popularity rank by frequency of use