inheredito

Pronunciation

• Classical: [ɪ.neːˈreː.dɪ.toː]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [i.neˈrɛː.di.to]^[1]

Forms

inhērēditō (present infinitive inhērēditāre, perfect active inhērēditāvī, supine inhērēditātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + hērēditō (“to inherit”).^[2][1][3] Georges connects it directly with hērēs (“heir”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first example is in the Latin Biblical Antiquities of Pseudo-Philo, in the sense “receive as an inheritance”: man, it says, was set there ad inhērēditandum saeculum, to inherit the world.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In the Latin 4 Esdras, printed with the Vulgate, Lewis & Short, Georges and Stelten take it to mean “appoint an heir”, while Gaffiot reads the same passage as intransitive “inherit”.^[6][4][7][8] Valerian's homilies use it with the dative for “be heir”: an inheritance to which one man is usually heir, he says, is often seen to be enough for many.^[2][8]

In Medieval Latin it could mean “put someone in possession of a thing”.^[9][3] In England the Kalendar of Abbot Samson allows a tenant to make a kinsman heir to his holding;^[10] a Polish document of 1380 speaks of goods that came to the writer by inheritance from his father, and one of 1415 uses it for “inherit”.^[11] The Lexicon Bohemorum records it for the opposite, “disinherit”.^[12] English inherit, first “make someone an heir”, came from it through Old French around 1300.^[3]

Timeline

• 4th century AD – The Biblical Antiquities of Pseudo-Philo use it for inheriting the world.^[2][5]
• before 1201 – The Kalendar of Abbot Samson uses it for making a kinsman heir.^[10]
• c. 1300 – English enheriten “make someone an heir” is recorded, through Old French.^[3]
• 1380 – A Polish document uses it of goods handed down from a father.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. (Late Latin) To inherit, receive as an inheritance.^[2][8][11]
2. (Late Latin) To be heir (to something, with the dative).^[2]
3. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) To appoint as heir, make someone an heir.^{[6][4][7][10][1]}
4. (Medieval Latin) To put someone in possession of a thing.^[9]
5. (Medieval Latin) To hand down as an inheritance.^[11]
6. (Medieval Latin) To disinherit.^[12]

Related words

• hērēs
• English inherit

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
12. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences