Etymologically
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inheritance

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Pronunciation

  • /ɪnˈhɛɹɪtəns/, /ɪnˈhɛɹɪˌtəns/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English enheritaunce, borrowed from Anglo-Norman enheritance (“being admitted as heir; the fact of inheriting”),[2][3][4] recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1341 for property or rights that can be inherited.[5] The French noun is formed on enheriter (“to make someone an heir”), the verb behind inherit,[3][2][6] with the suffix that became -ance.[2] That verb comes from Late Latin inhērēditō (“to appoint as heir”), built on hērēs (“heir”).[3][4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Hereditary succession to property or a title: 1390, in John Gower's Confessio Amantis.[2] Etymonline dates enheritaunce, the fact of receiving something by hereditary succession, to the late 14th century.[3]

Semantic evolution

From the act of inheriting the word passed to the thing inherited: an estate passing to an heir, in Warkworth's Chronicle (1473),[2] or early in the 15th century according to Etymonline.[3] The Coverdale Bible (1535) used it for a possession given by right or divine grant, a birthright,[2] and Johnson (1755) defined it as patrimony, a hereditary possession.[8] From 1613 it covered qualities and other immaterial things handed down from earlier generations,[2] and with Darwin's Origin of Species (1859) it became the term for the passing of characteristics from parents to offspring.[2] The shorter heritance, the act of inheriting, is recorded from the mid 15th century.[3]

Timeline

  • 1341 – Anglo-Norman enheritance.[5]
  • 1390 – hereditary succession to property or a title.[2]
  • 1473 – an inherited estate.[2]
  • 1535 – a birthright, a possession by divine grant.[2]
  • 1613 – a quality inherited from earlier generations.[2]
  • 1859 – the passing of characteristics from parents to offspring.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Money, property or a title that passes to someone when its owner dies: She spent her inheritance on a farm.
  2. The act or right of inheriting.
  3. Something handed down from earlier generations; a heritage.
  4. (biology) The passing of characteristics from parents to offspring by heredity.

Word family

  • coinheritance
  • blending inheritance
  • particulate inheritance
  • inheritance tax
  • inherit
  • inheritable
  • inheritor
  • inheritrix
  • heir
  • heritage
  • heredity
  • hereditary

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes inheritance, the usual word for property or any possession that comes to an heir, from heritage, which is used more for traditions and qualities handed down to a later generation.[9]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House