Etymologically
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inherit

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Pronunciation

  • /ɪnˈhɛɹɪt/[1]

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

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.