inheritance

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   any attribute or immaterial possession that is inherited from ancestors

   my only inheritance was my mother's blessing

2. 2
   noun

   The act or mechanism of inheriting; the state of having inherited.

   The Indo-European languages share various similarities as a result of their inheritance from a common ancestor.

3. 3
   noun

   hereditary succession to a title or an office or property

4. 4
   noun

   (genetics) attributes acquired via biological heredity from the parents

5. 5
   noun

   that which is inherited

6. 6
   noun

   The passing of title to an estate upon death.

7. 7
   noun

   That which a person is entitled to inherit, by law or testament, such as the part of an estate (i.e., a portion).

8. 8
   noun

   The biological attributes passed hereditarily from ancestors to their offspring.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English enheritaunce, inheritaunce, borrowed from Anglo-Norman, Old French enheritaunce, from enheriter. By surface analysis, inherit + -ance.