hériter

Forms

hériter^[1] Old French eriter, ireter, which lasted until the 15th century;^[2][3][4] hériter about 1540.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French eriter, a remodelling of an unattested *hereter, inherited from Late Latin hērēditō (“to give or receive as an inheritance”), from hērēs (“heir”).^[5][2][1][6] The ⟨i⟩ comes from the Old French noun erité (“inheritance”) (about 1105), from hērēditās; the FEW traces it to the Latin accusative rather than to the rare French hérédité, while Bloch and Wartburg credit the French noun.^[5][7] The ⟨h⟩ of the Latin was restored early in writing.^[7]

Cognate with Old Occitan heretar, Spanish heredar and Portuguese herdar.^[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1140 in Gaimar's history of the English, meaning “to give something as an inheritance” (Elfled sa suer l'en heritad).^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the verb often meant “to make someone heir”.^[7][8] The sense “to receive as an inheritance” is recorded in Wace (1160–1174, eriter), and the modern construction hériter de quelqu'un from 1655.^[5][2] Figuratively it came to mean “to receive, take over” something passed on, such as ideas or a tradition (1650).^[2][4] From 1690 it also meant “to get the use of something handed on”.^[2][4]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – Gaimar uses heriter for “to give as an inheritance”.^[5]
• 1160–1174 – Wace has eriter “to receive as an inheritance”.^[5][2]
• c. 1540 – The spelling hériter appears.^[4]
• 1650 – The figurative sense “to receive, take over” is recorded.^[2]
• 1655 – Hériter de quelqu'un is recorded.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière has the sense “to get the use of something handed on”.^[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. Hériter de: to inherit, to become the owner of a property or holder of a right by succession.^[9][5][1]
2. (absolute) To come into an inheritance.^[9]
3. (familiar) To be given something that someone else had before.^[9][4]
4. To inherit a quality, a trait or a tradition from someone.^[9][2]
5. (transitive, literary) To receive something by inheritance.^[9]

Word family

• héritage
• déshériter

Related words

• héritier
• hoir
• hérédité
• Latin hērēs

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 410a
7. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert