inherit, v.
(ɪnˈhɛrɪt)
Forms: α. 4–5 enerite, 4–6 enheryte, 4–7 enherite, 5–7 enherit, 6 enheret. β. 5 ineryte, inheritte, 5–6 inheryt(e, inheret(t, 6 Sc. inhereit, 6–7 inherite, 6– inherit.
[a. OF. enheriter to put (one) in possession as heir, f. en- (en-1, in-2) + heriter to make (one) heir:—late L. hērēditāre: see herit v. The change of the original sense into that of ‘to receive as heir’ has also taken place in F. hériter.]
† 1. trans. To make heir, put in possession, cause to inherit (lit. and fig.). Obs. (Cf. disinherit.)
| [1304 Year-bk. 32 Edw. I (Rolls) 165 Pykenot fut enherité de ces tenementz.] 13.. K. Alis. 7153 Withynne the walles he made houses,..Of his gentil men he enherited [Bodley MS. herited] there, And tho that of the lond ware. 1388 Wyclif Ecclus. xv. 6 God..schal enherite [1382 eritagen] hym with euerlastynge name. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxx. 80. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxv. 137 To disheryte their naturall lorde and his yssue, to enheryte a stranger. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. i. 85 What doth our Cosin lay to Mowbraies charge? It must be great that can inherite vs So much as of a thought of ill in him. |
2. trans. To take or receive (property,
esp. real property, or a right, privilege, rank, or title) as the heir of the former possessor (usually an ancestor), at his decease; to get, or come into possession of, by legal descent or succession.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 588 Lat him as ayre, quen I am erþed, enherit my landis. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 261/2 Inheryte, or receyve in herytage (K. inerytyn).., heredito. 1513 More Rich. III (1883) 58 [To] allege bastardy..So that he should seme dishabled to inherite the crowne. 1597 Daniel Civ. Wars vi. xcvii, So much adoe had toyling Fraunce to rend, From vs the right so long inherited. a 1719 Addison (J.), An estate he had some prospect of inheriting. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xx, I inherit it by the female line. 1899 Sayce Early Israel vii. 249 The king inherited his priesthood from him. |
| fig. 1818 Shelley Rev. Islam ii. vi, All that despair from murdered hope inherits They sought. |
b. To derive (a quality or character, physical or mental) from one's progenitors by natural descent; to derive or possess by transmission from parents or ancestry.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 128 The cold blood hee did naturally inherite of his Father. 1601 ― All's Well i. ii. 22 Youth, thou bear'st thy Fathers face,..Thy Fathers morall parts Maist thou inherit too. 1763 J. Brown Poetry & Mus. xii. 203 Such being the Birth of the modern Opera, no Wonder it inherits the Weakness of its Parent. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 238 We find nothing more common..than for children to inherit sometimes even the accidental deformities of their parents. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 127 Whose taste is inherited by the present sovereign. 1868 Darwin Anim. & Pl. II. xii. 1 A variation which is not inherited throws no light on the derivation of species. |
c. To receive or have from a predecessor in office. Chiefly
fig.| 1847 Tennyson Princ. iv. 569 He that next inherited the tale, Half-turning to the broken statue, said, ‘Sir Ralph has got your colours’. Mod. The problems which the present administration has inherited from its predecessors. |
3. transf. To come into possession of, as one's right or divinely assigned portion; to receive, obtain, have, or hold as one's portion. (Chiefly in biblical and derived uses: see
inheritance 4,
heir 2.)
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxiv. 14 His sede sall enherite þe erthe. ― Pr. Consc. 869 When a man Sal dighe he sal enherite þan Wormes and nedders. 1388 Wyclif Ecclus. iv. 14 Thei that holden it [wisdom], schulen enherite lijf. 1526 Tindale Matt. xxv. 34 Come ye blessed children of my father, inheret ye the kyngdome prepared for you from the beginninge of the worlde. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. ii. 30 Such delight..shall you this night Inherit at my house. 1593 ― Rich. II, ii. i. 83 Gaunt am I for the graue, gaunt as a graue, Whose hollow wombe inherits naught but bones. 1611 Bible Luke xviii. 18 Good master, what shall I doe to inherit eternall life? 1674 Milton Samson 1012 It is not virtue, wisdom, valour, wit,..That woman's love can win, or long inherit. 1746 C. Wesley Hymn, ‘Love divine’, ii, Let us all in thee inherit. |
4. To be heir to (a person); to succeed as heir.
| a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) B viij b, The auctoritee that thei had inherityng their fathers. 1721 St. German's Doctor & Stud. 38 That the eldest son shall inherit his father. 1832 Tennyson Lotos-Eaters vi, Surely now our household hearths are cold: Our sons inherit us..And we should come like ghosts to trouble joy. |
5. absol. or intr. To succeed as an heir; to come into or take possession of an inheritance.
| 1533–4 Act 25 Hen. VIII, c. 22 §6 That all the issue..shall be..inheritable and inherite accordyng to the..lawes of this realme. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V 72 b, The issue female may not enherite accordyng to the lawe Salique. 1610 Shakes. Temp. ii. ii. 179 The King, and all our company else being dround, wee will inherit here. 1700 Tyrrell Hist. Eng. II. 798 His Issue [were] barred from Inheriting. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 19 The children by a wife and those by a concubine slave inherit equally, if the latter be acknowledged by the father. |
b. fig. † (
a) To take possession, take up an abode, dwell (
obs.); (
b) To derive its being, or some quality or character,
from.
| 1600 Tourneur Transf. Metamorph. i, O where can life celestiall inherit? a 1890 Church Pascal, etc. (1895) 113 If there is a ministry on earth which in any sense inherits from the apostles. 1891 Daily News 10 Feb. 5/1 The music-hall seems beyond redemption. Its traditions are against it; it inherits from the Coal Hole and the Cider Cellars. |
Hence
inˈherited ppl. a.,
inˈheriting vbl. n. and ppl. a.| 1622 E. Waterhouse Declar. St. Virginia title-p., That their lawful heyres..may take order for the inheriting of their lands and estates. 1663 Boyle Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos. ii. ii. 44 How madnesse..should not only prove hereditary, but lurk very many yeares in the inheriting person's body. 1797 Holcroft Stolberg's Trav. (ed. 2) IV. xci. 127 Men who cherished an inherited hatred against each other. 1875 Bennett & Dyer Sachs' Bot. 829 The different species of the same genus agree among one another in a number of inherited characters, and are distinguished only by single constant characters. |