inherit
verb
Simple meaning
To receive, by legal succession or bequest after the previous owner's death.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihnhehruhtSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪnˈhɛɹət
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To receive (property, a title, etc.), by legal succession or bequest after the previous owner's death.
transitivebiology
To receive a characteristic from one's ancestors by genetic transmission.
“I inherited my good eyesight from my mother.”
intransitive
To come into an inheritance.
Receive from a predecessor
“The new chairman inherited many problems from the previous chair.”
transitive
To derive from people or conditions previously in force.
transitive
To take possession of as a right (especially in Biblical translations).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To receive (property, a title, etc.), by legal succession or bequest after the previous owner's death.
Used this way, inherit is a specialist word with a clearly warm, approving pull. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Successful and accomplished
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use inherit
- “I inherited my good eyesight from my mother.”verb
- “I inherited a castle from my French grandparents.”verb
- “The new chairman inherited many problems from the previous chair.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Hereditary succession to a title or an office or property.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Wealth that is inherited rather than earned.
A disease or disorder that is inherited genetically.
A disease or disorder that is inherited genetically.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.