inherit

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English enheriten, also inheriten,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French enheriter (“to make heir, appoint as heir”),^[5][4][6][7] from Late Latin inhērēditō (“to appoint as heir”),^[4][6][8][9] formed from in- (“in”) and hērēditō (“to inherit”),^[7][4][10] from hērēs (“heir”),^[4][6][11] the source of heir.^[4] The American Heritage Dictionary refers hērēs to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *ghē-.^[7] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from the late 12th century, both for making someone an heir and for receiving an inheritance.^[12] Merriam-Webster thinks the English meaning was influenced by hériter and by the Latin verb.^[13] It is related to heredity, hereditary and heritage.^[10][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

To come into possession of something as one's rightful portion, chiefly in biblical use: before 1340, in Richard Rolle's Psalter.^[5][9] Etymonline and Barnhart date the word to about 1300 and 1350, first in the sense "to make (someone) an heir".^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

The original sense was to make someone an heir or to put someone in possession (before 1400 to 1597), a sense that survives in disinherit.^[5][4][14] By the late 14th century the verb had come to mean the opposite, to receive property or a title as an heir;^[5][4] the OED notes that French hériter went through the same change.^[5] Weekley remarks that both senses occur in Shakespeare.^[14] In the Medieval Latin inhērēditāre had also taken on the sense "to put in possession".^[4] From 1600, again in Shakespeare, one could inherit a quality or character from one's parents,^[5][9] the sense later used of genetic transmission.^[15] From 1850, in Tennyson, it was also used of something received from a predecessor in office.^[5][9] Johnson (1755) gave first "to receive or possess by inheritance".^[16]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – first record of the verb, in Etymonline's dating.^[4]
• a1340 – to receive as one's portion, in Richard Rolle's Psalter.^[5]
• a1400 – to make someone an heir (obsolete by 1597); to receive property as an heir.^[5]
• ?1530 – to be heir to a person.^[5]
• 1533 – intransitive, to succeed as heir.^[5]
• 1600 – to derive a quality from one's ancestors, in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2.^[5]
• 1850 – to receive from a predecessor in office, in Tennyson.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To receive property, a right or a title from someone who has died, by succession or under a will: She inherited the farm from her uncle.^[15][5]
2. To have a quality or characteristic passed on from one's parents or ancestors, especially genetically: He inherited his mother's red hair.^[15][5]
3. To receive a position, situation or problem from a predecessor: The new manager inherited a large debt.^[15][5]
4. To come into possession of something as one's due, chiefly in biblical use: inherit eternal life.^[5][9][13]
5. To succeed as heir; to come into an inheritance.^[15][5]
6. (obsolete, 1400–1597) To make someone an heir; to put someone in possession.^[5][9]

Word family

• inheritor
• coinheritance
• disinherit
• inheritable
• inheritance
• inheritrix
• noninheritable
• noninherited

Related words

• heir
• heredity
• hereditary
• heritage

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
13. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
14. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
15. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.